Within this Nightmare
by sonicfan1990
Summary: An explosion of Chaos Energy in Eggman's base leaves Sonic stranded in a post-apocalyptic timeline. Alone and confused, Sonic has to find a way to get back to his own world and time. But can he do that when malicious forces lurk in the shadows and desire his death? Furthermore, is he truly alone at all? The blue blur is about to find out why the Emeralds bring him to this place.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. Good day to everyone. **

**I do realize that it's been a while since I last put anything up (well, Sonic-related stories to be specific). My sincerest apologies to all! It's just that things have been extremely hectic over here, and I'm currently being crushed by the insane amount of homework thrown my way. That and the fact that I have a week full of exams coming up (one for each day of the following week, I might add).**

**Since I have some free time on hand at last (and the fact that I'm not planning on losing my sanity cramming for exams any time soon), I manage to finish this chapter as a preview for the new story I'm writing at the moment, which I have just finished the layout, not so much the content. **

**Anyone who has read my notice in my previous story "Trapped" will probably recognize this one. I'm staying true to my word and I'm going to deliver the reality version of that story – with a little twist of my own imagining. Rest assured there will be no OCs this time. This story may take a while (a really, really long while) for me to complete, for I'll be pretty busy with schoolwork until the end of June, and probably the following half of July. **

**Last but not least, reviews, as usual, are highly appreciated. **

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Chapter 0:  
Can't wake up from this nightmare

Chaotic, mortifying, horrible, hopeless,…There were probably thousands of fancy words that could be used to describe the post-apocalyptic location and the predicament that Sonic was speeding through at the moment. However, the most fitting one that came to mind at the sight of this hellish nightmare would be "Armageddon".

The entire city, or perhaps what was left of it, was wholly enveloped by a veil of glooming and perpetual darkness, which, in the lone hero's opinion, seemed to symbolize the never-ending despair of the living as well as that of the long deceased. Around him, the rubbles of countless buildings and skyscrapers littered the broken highways, adding more details to the picture of the pitiful remains of the industrialized area. Even at the speed Sonic was currently travelling, he could have sworn he had seen limbs protruding from underneath those rocks – lifeless, bloody and utterly smashed by the weights.

After a disheartened and angry growl, the speedster tried his best to block the gruesome images out of his mind and instead continued to speed through the various obstacles on the path. At the same time, he still couldn't help but think about his situation, and how fast things had deteriorated for him.

They say fate has a twisted sense of humor…Sonic surely doesn't know who 'they' are, but he has to admit that 'they' are absolutely right, more than he likes. Oh, how did things turn out so, so horribly wrong? It had been an ordinary day like any other, and now, Sonic suddenly found himself trapped in the middle of this hellhole, in the middle of a ravaging war, with the entire enemy forces after his head.

'_No, not a war'_, said a voice in Sonic's mind as he leaped over a gigantic boulder ahead and resumed his pace…To refer to an armed conflict as a war implies that all participating parties actually have an equal shot at victory. '_This is not a war'_, he concluded bitterly, unconsciously narrowing his darkened emerald eyes and turning around briefly. The moment he did, the sight of a pursuing shadow not very far behind suddenly intruded in Sonic's field of vision. Once again, he found himself grunting in distaste before picking up the pace even more and running past the searing sea of flames ahead, which were further devastating the remaining wreck of a city.

'_Not by a long shot'_ the inside voice continued.

No, it definitely wasn't a war. Rather, it was a one-sided massacre.

And the cursed being responsible for all of this madness, the wild beast responsible for causing all of this chaos and deaths was right hot on his tail, fully clad in a jet-black armor and face shrouded by a similar helmet. He was holding two energy swords tightly in his hands, fully intent on tearing his prey to pieces.

"This should be far enough!" Sonic muttered to himself in a futile attempt to calm down his growing nerves, feeling a bit torn between rage and disbelief that someone could actually catch up with him so easily, almost effortlessly. But then again, the legendary speedster couldn't say he was that surprised, considering who the assailant was.

"Alright then, you want to play rough, I'll play rough" shouted Sonic.

With that, he abruptly turned around and rammed straight into the dual-wielding swordsman with his faithful Sonic Boost. The strike was as deadly as it was sudden, yet it was ultimately for naught, for the highly elusive chaser had managed to get out of the way a split second before the impact. The blurry blue comet that Sonic had become then collided with a nearby boulder with a force strong enough to reduce it to tiny pebbles.

"Oh Chaos, I can't believe I'm saying this out loud…but he's crazy fast!" Sonic pouted a little when he emerged from the resulted dust screen, completely unscathed from the collision.

Quickly snapping back to the severity of his current predicament, the hedgehog instantly became alert when his perked ears picked up the faint twirling sound of his opponent's light sabers nearby. Like a true predator aiming for its prize, the armored warrior moved quickly behind the rocks and debris like a shadow, patiently waiting for a perfect opportunity. The sound of his energy-based weapons ripped through the veil of dead stillness of the area and assaulted Sonic's sensitive ears, echoing in his eardrums, disturbingly loud and clear. Realizing that there was no avoiding the unavoidable, the trapped hero decided to stand his ground and listened closely to the darkened surroundings.

The twirling noise of the futuristic weapons became louder and louder as time progressed, telling Sonic that the pursuer was closing in at a steady and fast pace. However, he could also tell that the assailant was clearly exercising extreme caution, not taking the risk of letting his prey escape his hold.

"Give it up, Sonic. You cannot win" The hedgehog's ears twitched visibly as he heard an unusually monotonous voice, one that was completely devoid of any kind of known emotions and feelings. It was a voice not unlike that of a machine, but this one sounded far worse, for it actually came from an organic being that had been stripped of all feelings and morality. "Your fate has already been sealed!"

"We'll see about that!" Sonic instantly retorted while dashing his eyes around and preparing for the strikes that were sure to come at any moment.

All of the sudden, a blurry silhouette emerged from behind one of surrounding rubbles and lunged straight at Sonic. The stealthy assailant immediately held out his swords and precisely aimed for the hedgehog's back, intending on stabbing through his beating heart and finishing the battle in one strike. The assassin's agility was without a doubt beyond what the word 'incredible' entailed, to the point of being on par with that of the legendary blue blur.

On par, not faster…

"Oops!" came a rather smug and highly exaggerated exclaim from the hedgehog as he quickly side-stepped and safely dodged the tip of the incoming saber. Skillfully maneuvering his body so that he would ultimately end up behind his persistent assailant, Sonic proceeded to grab his left wrist and twist it painfully, effectively forcing the armored attacker to drop one of his weapons.

"Gotcha!" the hedgehog exclaimed in an obviously faked cheerful tone before delivering a follow-up kick to the pursuer's spine.

The kick connected, and the black-clad assassin wordlessly fell forward, his helmet shattering from the impact with the hard ground a little distance away. Not letting this precious opportunity to amount to naught, Sonic instantly picked up the dropped saber on the ground and promptly leaped forward, aiming to disarm and hopefully restrain his relentless tail.

Unfortunately, despite his reputation as the fastest thing alive, he failed to accomplish his goals. In one quick motion - surprisingly quick even for someone of Sonic's caliber to process - the fallen fighter, got to his knees, turned around from where he was and parried the incoming slash almost effortlessly.

"I repeat, you cannot hope to win against me" said the warrior in the same emotionless tone briefly before pushing himself up from the dirt through the use of his remaining appendages and easily driving Sonic back to a wall behind with sheer brute force alone.

Despite the hedgehog's most valiant efforts, he suddenly found himself in another pickle as he was pinned to the wall in a matter of seconds.

The blades of the two energy weapons clashed with one another, creating a dangerous sizzling noise that was very unpleasant for the ears, and sending sparks out in all directions. At that moment, the darkened area was momentarily lit up as a result of the collision of the two light sabers, allowing Sonic to see into the eyes of the opponent whom he was facing – a sight that he was sure would continue to haunt him in his nightmares until the day he left the realm of the living.

Not to boast, but Sonic was never one to be afraid of anything the world had to throw at him, even in the direst of situations where even the bravest of them all would surely falter. Yet, the very sight of the assailant's eyes made him cringe outwardly, as if physically struck by an armored fist to the face. The moment Sonic looked into the dull eyes of the being responsible for all this madness, he felt like a part of him was lost to the heartless flames, having been reduced to ashes and burned out of existence forever.

The sight of those eyes…those lifeless sapphire eyes, he knew right then and there, would forever haunt him for the rest of his mortal life, and for every waking and sleeping moment. They were so familiar, yet so very, very different. And admittedly, it scared Sonic the hedgehog like never before.

"Yield!" the swordsman spat coldly as he leaned closer to the hero, his emotionless gaze bearing into Sonic's own widened emerald orbs. For the first time in a long time, Sonic felt fear.

"Sorry. That is something I can't do, buddy" said the hedgehog after he miraculously managed to snap back to reality, "I'll never give in until I bring you back to who you really are and wake you up from this horrible nightmare…Tails".

Yet, the unfeeling, half-machine fox before him continued to stare blankly, never flinching, never showing any kind of emotion, never letting up. Instead, he simply tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and applied more force, hell bent on carrying out his orders to dispose of his former friend and brotherly figure. And all Sonic could do at the moment was try his best to survive.

Yes, it was indeed a nightmare, the worst kind of nightmare imaginable. It was a nightmare one normally hoped to wake up from, yet couldn't. It really was a horrendous nightmare for Sonic.

And at this very moment, he was trapped within it, within this never-ending bad dream, desperately wishing for it to end, yet unable to open his eyes.

For it was a nightmare known as reality.

…

**That's it for the time being, next time (which will be a while), the real story begins. **


	2. Chapter 2: The Beginning

**Here's the first part of the story, and it's a bit long. But I hope everyone who reads this chapter will find it to your liking. Also, I'd like to thank those who have taken an interest in this story and followed it. I'm really honored. :)**

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Chapter 1:  
The Beginning

Everything started out as usual. It was a perfectly ordinary day in the crazy lives of the ever-relentless heroes of Earth. While running around Green Hill Zone for a much needed break from his heroic routine, Sonic suddenly received intelligence that Eggman was planning something very sinister, the scale of which could be compared to that of the Dark Gaia incident a while back. Not one to take chances, the hero of blue immediately sprang into action in order to prevent whatever madness Eggman sought to create.

At present, the Blue Blur and his most trusted friends had just successfully managed to break into Eggman's latest fortress, which was located inside an inactive volcano in the southernmost region of the world. After easily bypassing several layers of security with little to no effort, a feat that was all too easy when one had the help of a temperamental powerhouse echidna that could crush anything, a faithful hedgehog with a deadly way with her Piko Piko hammer, and of course, the genius brain of a twin-tailed fox Sonic himself had come to love as his family and brother.

"Eggman must be getting smarter," Tails commented as he landed next to Sonic when the latter was pressing his body against the wall and keeping an eye out for any approaching machines, "He actually managed to collect all seven Emeralds without anyone knowing. And this place took me almost an entire day to locate due to the energy signals and the amount of heat that the volcano is constantly giving off."

"Well, either that or the fact that he needs more mobility and less cholesterol in his system" the older hedgehog playfully remarked, unable to pass up the chance for a joke and causing his surrogate brother to chuckle in amusement. Sonic would never admit it out loud, but he could never get enough of the casual banters with the kid. Before him, Sonic had always been alone, an elusive and mysterious blue blur without a care and a friend in the world. But now, he seemed to have found something that had filled the hole in his lonely heart after all those years of travelling without companionship.

Hearing the young genius' chuckles getting a little louder, Sonic grinned mischievously and quickly added, "And I'm willing to wager my entire fridge of chilidogs on the latter. After all, it's Egg-man, and we all know that he's rich, I mean, seriously, where do all these machines come from?" Sonic continued, pretending to rub his belly in an absent-minded manner. At this point, Tails' giggle had increased in volume, but still not loud enough to give away their location to the doctor.

"Do you really have to crack a lame joke every five seconds when you go on a mission?" came the voice of a very grumpy Knuckles a little distance away, holding what looked like smashed robotic appendages from various Egg Pawns.

Though Sonic and Knuckles had certain issues with one another regarding…literally everything, but the hedgehog could always count on him to have his back, and deep down, he knew the echidna was the same, but only too prideful to admit it – a trait that was probably one of the few things they actually had in common.

"Why can't you ever take anything seriously for a change?" Knuckles continued as he dumped the parts on the floor unceremoniously and dusted his hands.

"Hey, leave him alone, Knuckles. Not everyone wants to be a grumpy teenager like you, you know" this time sounded the feminine voice of Amy Rose, which effectively cut off Sonic's intended response.

This was one of the very rare times when the pink hedgehog had actually managed to catch up with her hero and his buddies. In fact, Sonic was actually starting to believe she was gradually getting faster as time passed.

Though the fastest thing alive was truthfully happy about one of his oldest friends' incredible progress, a part of him felt somewhat nervous when he envisioned a day in the future when she would be able to catch up to him. Also, the fact that her skills with the magical hammer were getting better made the Sonic the hedgehog shiver outwardly.

"Are you cold, Sonic? That's strange. Are you feeling sick? Unwell? Nauseous? Tired?" Amy voiced her concern immediately and began to bombard her crush with a plethora of questions. She might be a bit of a handful, but she always looked out for her friends, a trait Sonic greatly admired and respected, not that he was willing to say it out loud.

At the sound of her voice, another bout of hearty giggles came from Tails, whose eyes were still fixed on his handheld device. His mind, however, was elsewhere at the moment. That much Sonic could easily tell. There was no possible way the kid would let this golden opportunity pass, and the hedgehog braced for it.

"Oh, he's cold alright. But I doubt it has anything to do with the temperature or sickness. He's probably worried about his title…and possibly a hammer-related issue" the little fox said, much to Amy's confusion, as he shot his own adoptive brother a really mischievous grin, one that could possibly rival Sonic's infamous gesture. Oh joy!

"W-What are you talking about, Tails?" Sonic said, feigning innocence in a feeble attempt to salvage whatever was left of his 'big brother' image.

"Oh don't give me that, Sonic. I know what you're thinking, and you know I'm right" Tails said in a teasing tone, his eyes not once leaving the screen.

"Geez, how can you possibly know?"

"Oh, I know because I'm the modern-day reincarnation of the powerful Kitsune of legends, and thus have absolute power over the naked minds of mortals…Or because I know you well enough to guess your thoughts without even trying" came the cheerful reply of the fox as he spared Sonic a glance and a sly grin before turning back to his work.

"Very cute, kiddo! Nice to know you still haven't lost your let's-scan-Sonic-and-blurt-out-his-personal-thoughts ability. Now let's get back to the matter of locating Eggman's control chamber, shall we?" he instantly replied in huff before whipping his head around and looking ahead, returning to scanning for approaching enemies.

"Why thank you. I'm quite proud of that if I do say so myself" he heard Tails mutter briefly before focusing on his device again. Unconsciously, Sonic let out an audible sigh, half in frustration and half in amusement.

"Little brothers…" he muttered affectionately and shook his head. There was no way Sonic could ever get tired of Tails. After all, there was nothing more important than family, and though they were not bound by blood, they were connected by bond – a bond that was forged by the hardships of time and the trials of life.

A moment later, a giant red dot appeared on the screen, and the fox gathered everyone around.

"Found it! Eggman is close. Only three levels down."

"Alright. You lead, we follow" Knuckles said, and the others nodded their heads in consensus. A second later, Tails flew on ahead, leading the team through the maze-like section of Eggman's fortress and toward the control chamber.

…

The little run through Eggman's base was pretty much a walk in a park for the four friends, if it could even be considered so. Through years of practice and experience, they had all grown used to everything the good old Doctor had to dish out; and in all honesty, it didn't even seem like Eggman was even trying to make an effort anymore, at least to Sonic. His machines were exceptionally good for tasks such as housekeeping and comic relief, but in real combat situations, they were virtually useless.

With their combined might, Sonic and his comrades quickly laid waste to any battalion of mechanical soldiers that dared to march up to them.

When the group was two levels down, they found themselves surrounded by a bunch of robots of various models. For anyone, it would have been a terrifying experience for anyone to be trapped in a middle of a room occupied by a horde of killer robots, but to the four seasoned fighters, the scenario was literally as scary as being locked inside a room full of Chao plush toys.

With a deafening boost, the agile speedster immediately sprinted forward and cleared a path toward the next exit. Right behind him, Tails was busy checking out his screen, not even bothering to spare a glance at the surrounding enemies, and Sonic could easily tell why. It was because Tails trusted him.

Tails whole-heartedly trusted his brother and hero to watch his front, just as he had absolute confidence in Knuckles and Amy to look out for his back. With such wonderful friends around, the genius could put his mind at ease and devote himself to his task of disabling the lair's security systems.

Briefly glancing at his best friend, Sonic couldn't help but smile proudly, because like Tails, he could very much read the kid's mind with ease, and Sonic silently vowed that he would never lose that trust that Tails had in him. He would never let anything happen to his precious family.

While speeding ahead, the speedy runner secretly stole another glance at his friends. Unsurprisingly, Knuckles was going on a rampage with his opponents, turning them into piles of scraps one after another. Amy, at the same time, was equally impressive, continually swinging her trusty weapon around to deflect and destroy all incoming walking buckets with relative ease. From a helpless little girl that couldn't even handle a single badnik back in the days, she had matured over the years and grown into a fine and fierce companion and protector of her comrades.

Knowing that his friends would be fine, Sonic nodded to himself and shifted his focus back on the task at hand, picking up the pace and tearing down any obstacles that obstructed their advance.

…

A few minutes later, the group finally arrived at a heavily reinforced gate with a giant Eggman insignia on its surface. With one last look at his screen, Tails nodded his head and put the device away before turning to his friends.

"Yep, this is it. Eggman is beyond that gate" the young genius said as he cautiously approached the metal obstruction and inspected it with analytical eyes.

"Alright then, I'll force it open in a minute."

"Ah, no need, little bro," Sonic chimed in and threw an arm over his best friend's shoulder "How about we try something a little more…civil?"

"And that would be?"

"Well, knocking of course," Sonic grinned as he directed his gaze toward a certain hothead member of his team, who instantly cracked his fingers in preparation for his performance. "Would you mind doing the honor, Knuckles?"

"Me? Well, if you insist," said the echidna in question with a smug look on his face as he treaded toward the gigantic obstacle, "Stand back!"

With that, Knuckles lightly tapped on the reinforced object a few times to gauge its sturdiness.

"Hmm, this looks tough…But…"

He then threw a fist at the gate and true to his words, the entire construct began to crack and came crashing down moments later.

"Nice Falcon Punch there, Capt" said Sonic as he gave his hotheaded rival a golf clap.

"I prefer to call it 'Meteor Smash", but whatever, let's go. I don't have all day. The longer we spend here, the longer I have to stay away from the Master Emerald."

"Didn't you enlist the Chaotix to help with that?" asked Amy as she trudged behind the echidna.

"I do trust them as friends, but giving them free reign for a prolonged period of time without supervision…" he stopped himself there and shivered, fearing the consequences that a hyperactive and curious bee plus a scatter-brained and brash crocodile could provoke.

"Alright then, let's go wrap this up, guys" came Tails' voice, which was followed by the familiar twirling sound of his twin namesakes.

No more words or banters were exchanged after that, and the four friends instantly rushed through the open pathway, ready to take down whatever Eggman had in store for all of them inside.

…

After another short run, everyone arrived at a very spacious area filled with energy conduits and various computer screens. In the middle of the chamber stood a large machine that seemed to be the target that they had come for. And their suspicion was soon confirmed the moment they spotted the seven Chaos Emeralds attached to its core.

"Well, guess you're up, little buddy. Work your techno magic" said Sonic as he gave Tails a playful wink and gestured toward the giant mechanical pillar.

"Okay then…This will take a few minutes before…" Tails began, taking out his portable device only to be abruptly cut off when the chamber began to shake violently. Before anyone could blink, an emergency gate closed off the only way out of the place.

"About time you pests show up. And here I've been wondering whether or not you will show your ugly mugs" came an obnoxious and booming voice of Eggman from above.

Instantly, four heads whipped toward that direction, and the group instantly spotted the mad doctor hovering in the air inside his trusty mobile aircraft. However, instead of looking cross, Eggman appeared to be pleased, and a pleased Eggman normally equaled a catastrophe waiting to happen.

"Geez, Egghead, do you own a mirror?" Sonic said with amusement in his tone and shook his head in mock exasperation, "Also, how can you even associate this lovely visage with the word 'ugly', huh? I'm really hurt."

"Ah, put a sock in it, you nasty needle mouse. Well, since you are all here, I suppose I have to tell you what I have planned, hmm?"

"No need, doc" said Tails, much to the human's annoyance, "This machine is supposed to extract the energy of the seven Chaos Emeralds and create a force powerful enough to alter the fabric of reality, correct? I bet you're planning to rewrite reality to suit your liking, a plan which is about to go up in smoke right now."

"How can you possibly…"

"I already hacked into your systems, and I know everything I need to know about this gizmo of yours. Why are you so surprised? It's not like we've never had this conversation before."

"Gah, I admit I underestimated you again, fox boy. But no more of that. I'll make sure you nuisances never leave this place, then it's problem solved."

With that said, the mad scientist pressed a series of buttons on his aircraft. All of the sudden, a giant robot, which bore remarkable resemblances to Eggman himself, dropped down. In fact, they were splitting images of one another to the tiniest of details, disregarding the obvious difference in size. Having repositioned himself on top of the battle machine's head, the doctor started up the systems and ready to engage his enemies in combat.

"Behold, brats, this here is the results of months of careful designing and meticulous crafting. Take a very close look at the sight of this marvelous instrument of destruction, for I guarantee you, it will be the last sight you will ever see. Get ready to feel the wrath of the magnificent E.G.G.M.A.N."

The battle robot then stood up and revealed its splendor to its opponents.

The group of heroes took a while to study the features of the craftsmanship in front of them, seemingly lost for words and too stunned for speak. Their lack of reaction initially made the evil genius revel in glory, feeling extremely proud of the fact that he had finally created something that would leave even his most hated enemies cowering in fear.

…

Unfortunately, that moment was short-lived, for Eggman was snapped back to reality when the four friends suddenly burst out laughing like they had lost their grasp on sanity, with Sonic being the loudest per usual.

"Dude…Worst. Design. Ever!" said the hysteric hedgehog between breaths as he made a time-out sign with his hands and tried in vain to calm down.

"I can't believe this" Tails managed to choke out in the midst of his hearty bout of laughter, "It looks like it holds a gigantic neon sign that says, "Yo dawg, I heard you like to beat Eggman, so we put Eggman inside Eggman, so you can beat Eggman while you beat Eggman", or something along that line."

"Good one, Tails!" exclaimed Amy and Sonic as the latter came to give the young fox a triumphant high-five.

"Besides, what does the name stand for anyway?" this time Knuckles stepped in with a very smug look on his face, "Egotistical Geezer with Gigantic Mug and Abnormal Nosehair?"

"Okay, I have to hand it to you, Knux, that was a nice one!" Sonic laughed as he and the echidna bumped their fists together in a triumphant manner, while Tails and Amy tried and failed to contain their hysteric laughter.

"SHUT UP!" shouted Eggman furiously as he balled his hands into fists, his face turning three shades of red. "If you must know, it stands for, uh…Evil…Gargantuan…and Glorious…Machine of Abysmal Nastiness…Yeah, that's right. Evil, Gargantuan and Glorious Machine of Abysmal Nastiness!"

"You totally made that up!" Sonic said in a teasing tone, much to the human's exasperation.

"I did not. It's the original name I came up with. It's clearly written on my blueprint."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say, doc!" said Sonic dismissively.

"Argh, that does it. I'm not going to let this slide. Get ready, brats. Time to get scrambled!"

"You know, I have a lot to say about your choice of words, but maybe later" Sonic replied, trying to calm down and getting ready to take on the mechanical menace before him. "Okay guys, let's scrap him!"

"Right!" came the collected reply of the other three.

After that, both parties lunged forward and engaged each other in a brutal brawl.

…

"I need a boost, Knux!" shouted Sonic as he curled into a tight ball right in front of the red guardian. Wordlessly, Knuckles threw a fist at the blue ball and sent him flying straight toward the enormous target.

"How utterly predictable!" said Eggman with his trademark grin on his face. His finger then found its way toward a red button nearby and pressed it.

In a flash of light, the giant version of the doctor vanished without a trace seconds before Sonic's attack connected.

"What?" exclaimed the surprised hero as he uncurled himself and darted his eyes around in an attempt to locate his target.

"Did you really think I was going to make it easy for you, Sonic?" sounded the booming voice of the scientist, which echoed throughout the room.

Out of nowhere, the killer machine reappeared right behind the defenseless hedgehog. Laughing in glee, Eggman commanded his robotic version to throw a deadly jab at his nemesis, an attack that would critically injure Sonic up close.

Right before the metal fist hit, a shadow shot up and grabbed the suspended hero by his wrist, getting him out of harm's way in the nick of time. Relieved, Sonic sighed and smiled to himself, knowing full well who had come to his rescue him without even looking.

"Thanks, Tails. I owe you one" he said cheerfully and flashed the flying fox a thumb-up.

"Yeah, I'll just put it in your tab per usual" replied the cheeky kid, making Sonic sigh again, this time in mild annoyance.

"Oh, come on, I remember paying back everything I owe already."

"Last month's tab, yes, the month before that, not so much."

"Well, ain't that a kick in the head" Sonic sighed audibly, trying to be as playfully dramatic as he possibly could. Tails simply chuckled before turning around to study Eggman's robot.

"We'll settle that later. Right now, we have bigger fish to fry."

"I think it's 'bigger egg to fry', little bro, and you're right. Come on, let's finish this."

With that said, Tails increased altitude until the duo was directly above Eggman's robot. After sharing a nod, the hedgehog and the fox clapped their hands together and invoked their combination attack, more commonly known as the infamous Rolling Combo. With the combined speed of the two speedsters, the newly-created ball shot itself toward the E.G.G.M.A.N at an incredible pace, faster than either Tails or Sonic could accomplish individually.

Unfortunately for them, their efforts were once again all for naught when the giant target disappeared in yet another flash of blinding light.

A second later, it reemerged right in front of the reality-altering machine and started unloading a plethora of missiles and grenades at the team of heroes, forcing them to go on the defensive and fall back.

"There's no mistaking it," Tails said as he and Sonic broke formation to regroup with Amy and Knuckles behind a makeshift bunker that they had just set up in the stir of the moment, "He's definitely using Chaos Control."

"Looks like Eggman's done something right for a change" Sonic shouted above the deafening explosions. Being a frequent user of the technique and having fought against Shadow - a true master of the attack - many times, the blue hedgehog knew better than most people exactly how troublesome it really was in the hands of the enemies.

"You're the only expert in Chaos Control in the room, Sonic. How do you propose we counter that?" asked Amy as she, along with Knuckles, tried to keep the bunker from collapsing.

"Well, the thing is, you don't" said Sonic as he rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner, "It's difficult, and sometimes impossible to fight against a Chaos user. To counter one, you either need one, or sever his link with the Chaos Emeralds."

"So basically, all we need to do is get you inside the core of that gizmo and go Super Sonic on his sorry butt, right?" asked Knuckles.

"That's not going to be that simple, Knuckles" said Tails this time, "Earlier, I discovered that Eggman's machine is protected by a very powerful force field, especially around the core where the Emeralds are located. Breaking through that won't be easy."

"Then, what are we supposed to do? Sit around here and wait to get roasted? Not happening in this lifetime, kiddo" retorted the disgruntled echidna as he tried to keep the bunker intact.

"Hang on a second" Tails exclaimed all of the sudden as he pulled out his trusty device again, typing quickly. "According to this, Eggman's robot and the reality-altering machine are connected by wireless transmission. That's how he is able to trigger Chaos Control without having to touch the Emeralds directly. If I can find a way to disconnect the invisible link between the two, I may be able to negate his advantage. Once we're done with Eggman, I'll deal with the pesky force field."

"Think you can do that?" asked Knuckles.

"Well, I can try. All I need is a little time and a distraction. You keep Eggman at bay while I try to crack this problem."

"You heard him, let's move out" Sonic said with confidence in his tone, earning nods of consensus from both Amy and Knuckles.

…

With a wild swing of her hammer, Amy sent the entire makeshift bunker flying toward the E.G.G.M.A.N. Though the strike was sudden, it did little to surprise the doctor. With a simple press of a button, the gigantic robot casually stepped out of the way and retaliated by shooting a barrage of spikes from its extravagant mustache.

"Okay, that is freaky!" said Amy as she swung and spun her hammer around to deflect all incoming projectiles and protect Sonic and Knuckles behind her.

"Well, apparently, Eggman's run out of good ideas for attacks" said Sonic as he tried to lighten up the mood. Unfortunately, his attempt only earned him annoyed glares from his two comrades.

"Zip it!" commanded Knuckles.

"Okay, okay. Geez, you're no fun" the hedgehog pretended to pout. A split second later, a serious look appeared on his face, one that replaced all of his usual happy-go-lucky expression he normally wore.

"Alright then, if one front is not going to cut it, we'll try two. Knuckles, you go left while I go right. Amy, you stay here and make sure to watch out for Tails and provide cover for us as well."

Receiving two nods from his partners, Sonic immediately sprang into action and aimed for the right side of the robot. At the same time, Knuckles tore off a large part of the floor and lunged at the robot's left side.

"Ah, a war on two fronts, eh?" Eggman commented smugly, a devious grin plastered on his face, as he studied the movements of his enemies on the screen, "Not good enough!"

With that, the doctor punched a series of buttons on the controls, and unleashed a full salvo attack on all directions. In an instant, Amy backed off and dashed back to Tails to ensure the genius' safety, while Sonic and Knuckles continued with their advance.

Seemingly having anticipated such a move by the pompous human, Sonic used all of his agility and speed to approach the robot by consecutively jumping on top of the incoming missiles.

On the other hand, Knuckles, though not as fast and agile as his speedy counterpart, took advantage of the incoming explosives. Using his ability to glide in the air, the guardian carefully dodged and allowed the pressure created from the multiple explosions to carry him forward at a steadily fast pace.

In a matter of seconds later, both Sonic and Knuckles were within attack range, and immediately, they capitalized this opportunity. Knuckles snapped the piece of the floor he had into smaller and sharper pieces and threw them at Eggman's control chamber on top of the killer robot.

The echidna's throwing objects hit the protective glass of the Eggmobile and slightly startled the scientist inside. He would have triggered Chaos Control again, but Eggman knew full well the risks he would place himself in if he teleported around carelessly in a room full of stray missiles and grenades.

"Curse you, Knuckles. Do you have any idea how much this glass costs? You left scratches on it!" shouted Eggman.

"Do I look like I care?" replied the guardian as he continued with his airborne assault.

In the meantime, Sonic continued to approach his target, aiming for a clear shot at the head of the robot. Once he was sure his attack would connect, a grin broke out on the hedgehog's face.

"Yo, Egghead, missed me?" he said in a teasing tone. Not waiting for the man to reply, Sonic unleashed a homing attack on Eggman's aircraft, which landed perfectly on the target and almost knocked the Eggmobile off balance.

"GAH! How dare you…" growled Eggman in irritation.

After recovering from the attack, the doctor slammed his fist on a skull-marked button in front of him and manually detonated all missiles in the chamber at the same time.

…

The force generated by the explosions literally blew Sonic and Knuckles away. Luckily, the echidna managed to get to Sonic's location before the latter hit the metal surface of the chamber.

"Thanks, Knux" said Sonic as the echidna put him on the ground.

"Don't thank me yet. Knowing Eggman, he's up to something as we…"

The guardian of red was abruptly cut off when a giant robot suddenly materialized in a flash of light behind them. The appearance was so sudden that it practically left the duo no time to react at all.

"Checkmate!" said the scientist with a gleeful grin on his face. In an instant, the giant's hand was thrown toward Sonic and Knuckles, who were still too stunned to get out of the way in time.

Luckily for them, a bunch of computer panels and huge chunks of metal consecutively flew toward the outstretching arm, effectively knocking it away from the two heroes and sparing their lives.

"Get out of there now!" yelled Amy from afar as she continued to hit everything she could find and sent them barreling toward Eggman's robot.

Not wasting his friend's effort, Sonic immediately grabbed Knuckles by the writs and dragged him out of the way.

"Oh no you don't…" Eggman exclaimed and reached for the command to invoke Chaos Control, "There is nowhere in this place you can escape to that I can't reach. Chaos Control!" his finger then pressed the button.

Yet nothing happened.

Dumbfounded, the mad scientist tried pressing it again and again, but still, he received the same result each time. Nothing happened.

"What the devil?" Eggman angrily slammed a fist on the controls.

"Let's just say that you just got cut off from your energy supply, Egghead" said the voice belonging to the youngest being in the sealed arena, which shook the doctor out of his trance.

"You…What have you done, fox?" growled Eggman as he shot Tails the most hateful glare he could work up. However, the genius in question remained unfazed.

"Sonic and Knuckles bought me enough time to sever your link with the Chaos Emeralds. Now that you can no longer use Chaos Control as you please. As of now, your magnificent E.G.G.M.A.N is nothing more than an oversized hunk of junk that is about to get a visit to the dump" replied Tails concisely.

"Nicely done, Tails!" Sonic said with a whistle of admiration, earning himself a bashful smile from his brother and a cough from a certain pink hedgehog.

"And you too, Amy. I owe you one for saving my hide back there" he continued and shot Amy his trademark post, which made the girl's face light up.

"Oh, don't worry, Sonic. I'm sure a date at the beach and a romantic dinner with me will pay off that debt in no time" she replied with a series of affectionate winks, which sent chills up and down the cobalt hero's spine. Though he loved and valued Amy as a great friend, he just couldn't move past that zone and considered her as something more than that. And her obsession was clearly getting out of hand.

"Yeah…I'll take that into consideration…" Sonic said dismissively, trying desperately to change the subject, "Right! Back to the matter of you…" he whipped his head to look at the giant Eggman before him with a confident smile on his face.

"Either you give up on your own accord, or we'll break that little toy of yours. Your choice, Eggman."

"Let me think about it. NO!" shouted Eggman as he unloaded everything his robotic version had left in its arsenal and launched them at the four heroes.

At this point, everyone knew for certain that Eggmam was panicking behind the controls. Without a way to channel the Chaos Emeralds, his creation was completely vulnerable.

…

Wordlessly, Sonic gave Tails a meaningful nod, which the fox instantly caught on. In an instant, the two brothers leaped forward, with Tails grabbing Sonic and charging toward the incoming projectiles.

Skillfully maneuvering and performing intricate mid-air tricks and patterns, Tails easily managed to dodge literally everything Eggman sent his way and got Sonic close to the robot.

"Ready, Sonic?" he asked as he masterfully dodged the laser beams shot at him.

"I was born ready, Tails" came the hedgehog's instant reply.

With another nod, the young flyer swung his arms with all his might and sent his best friend hurling toward Eggman's vehicle.

Quickly using his Sonic Boost, the hedgehog easily managed to destroy anything thrown his way and land a hit on his target. Though powerful, Sonic's strike was still not enough to make the Eggmobile fall off.

"How dare you, Sonic! I'll make you pay dearly for that."

"Man, what did you use to stick your flying egg into this thing? Super glue?" remarked the hedgehog as he grabbed Tails' hand and allowed him to carry him away from the doctor's shooting range.

Eggman, fuming with rage, turned his head around to look at a timer nearby.

'_Ten more minutes…ten more minutes and I'll be able to wipe those pests out of existence forever'_ he thought to himself as he turned back to the matter at hand.

Smashing a glass case in front of him, Eggman punched a brightly-colored button. The robot then opened its mouth and revealed a gigantic cannon hidden inside.

"Allow me to introduce you to the Eggsterminator Cannon" said the doctor proudly as he began charging up for the shot.

"Well, at least your naming skill is getting better" remarked Sonic cheekily, which only helped to further enrage the already furious human. "And I've got to hand it to you, doc, that thing is really…uh…eggxtravangant."

"Are you mocking me?" growled Eggman.

"No, of course not" replied Sonic in an unsually high-pitched voice, confirming the human's point.

"Pah, why do I even bother. Just disappear!" Eggman then pulled the trigger and released all the energy he had accumulated over the last few minutes.

A highly-condensed beam of energy shot out from the menacing cannon and made its way toward the airborne duo, who managed to evade in the nick of time.

"That was a close call" Tails commented as he wiped his forehead and sighed in relief.

"Well, that was just a warning shot, pests. The next one won't miss" threatened Eggman as he began storing up energy for a second shot. In the meantime, the E.G.G.M.A.N tried to get rid of Sonic and Tails by shooting missiles and lasers wildly and aimlessly.

"You know, doc" said Sonic after dodging for a while, "You must be getting old."

"Pardon?" said Eggman as he raised an eye ridge at the sudden and irrelevant comment.

"Because you always seem to forget that there are actually four of us" Tails continued for his friend, and instantly, a smile formed on his face as he looked down at the robot's feet, prompting the doctor to do the same.

The moment he did, Knuckles unleashed a powerful punch that easily turned half of the giant's right leg to pieces, while Amy knocked the other leg with her weapon and broke it as well.

Having lost its legs, the robot had no choice but to allow gravity to pull it backward and fell on its back. Upon impact, Eggman's finger accidently pulled the trigger, and the cannon opened fire on the Emerald-powered machine in the chamber.

The force of the energy beam was more than enough to disable the force field surrounding the mechanical tower, much to the mad scientist's fury and the delight of the heroes.

"Well, I guess we don't have to worry about disabling the force field anymore" Tails commented cheerfully as he gently landed.

"Good riddance, then" added Sonic.

Sitting up inside the Eggmobile, Eggman gently massaged his throbbing head and looked at the proud machine he had created. The only thing he could do was frown in anger. Yet again, his attempt had been thwarted.

"My offer still stands, Eggman" said a voice which made him turn around. The moment he did, the doctor spotted all four heroes standing right in front of him in a threatening manner. "Give up now and disable the machine, or we'll make you."

To emphasize the point, Sonic gestured to Knuckles, who seemed to be trying very hard to restrain himself.

'_Five more minutes…'_ Eggman thought as he stole a glance at the timer nearby, '_I won't be able to stall that long…Oh fine then, come what may.' _

"As much as I'm tempted to accept your most generous offer, Sonic, I'm afraid I'm going to say nay."

Right after finishing his sentence, Eggman punched a button with a skull sign on the surface. A second later, the Chaos Emeralds began to glow, which Sonic immediately recognized as the sign of a forced Chaos Control being activated.

"You idiot, what have you done?" growled Sonic as he shot a glare at Eggman, who simply smirked, before turning to Knuckles.

"Throw me up there, Knux. I need to reverse that Chaos Control, or the entire world will be altered."

With a nod, the guardian did as requested. He instantly grabbed Sonic and threw him toward the core where all the Emeralds were stored.

"Don't even bother, Sonic" yelled Eggman before he burst out laughing maniacally, "Face it, I've won. There's nothing you can do about it."

Ignoring the hollow taunts of his nemesis, Sonic instantly tried to reverse the Chaos Control that had been triggered. Upon arriving at his destination, he instantly channeled the power of Chaos and turned into Super Sonic as fast as he could. Using his godlike power, the hedgehog tried to cancel the process, but he faced a lot of difficulties due to his transformation being rush and incomplete.

As the Chaos Emeralds continued to glow brighter, Sonic bitterly concluded that he had no other option but to risk it. Raising both hands at the seven gems, the super hedgehog used everything he had.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" he shouted and triggered a second Chaos Control in hope of cancelling the first.

Two powers collided with one another and created a powerful vortex inside the sealed room. Faintly, Sonic could hear the cries of his friends below, but he tried to ignore them and focused on his task.

After another shout from Super Sonic, the entire place was subsequently surrounded by a burst of light, and after that, everything disappeared from sight, consumed by the strange vortex that the two colliding Chaos Controls had created.


	3. Chapter 3: Mysteries

**Thank you werewolf99 so much for reviewing the first two chapters. I'm truly honored. Thank you so much for your invaluable support, I really appreciate it. I hope you and other followers of this fanfic will enjoy the following chapters.**

**Also, I've just received a PM from Lord Kelvin, and he told me that there was a spammer who stole his name to cause confusion. If anyone chances upon reviews with similar content from anonymous reviewers, please do not pay them any mind and delete them to protect the reputation of the writers whose names the spammers stole.  
**

**Last but not least, constructive criticism is always welcome. Please tell me honestly (bluntly if you want) what you think so that I can improve my writing skills. The main reason I write fanfics is to provide myself with a means to escape reality for a short period of time. However, I also see treat this pastime as a valuable way to gain experience and develop my writing skills, vocabulary and grammar to better prepare for my future career as a English teacher. Thanks in advance! :)**

* * *

Chapter 2:  
Mysteries

An unknown amount of time had come to pass since Eggman's base was eclipsed by the rift in the fabric of space and time that the doctor's madness had wrought.

Groaning in misery as a nasty dizzy spell assaulted him, Sonic got to his knees at an agonizingly slow pace and began to massage his temple to lessen the pain.

Truth to be told, he really wanted nothing more than to lie back down and sleep for an entire week at the moment, but he knew he didn't have that luxury. Sonic needed to know if his friends had made it out of that explosion of Chaos Energy safe and sound, and he wouldn't rest until he confirmed it.

"Ouch!" moaned the hedgehog miserably as he finally managed to get into a comfortable sitting position, "I'm never pulling that stupid stunt ever again…Urgh! My head…It feels like both Chaos and Dark Gaia are doing cha cha cha in there right now…Ow…"

Sonic, in his daze, was unable to see everything clearly. All he could make out about his current location was that he was in some sort of dark room with limited lighting. There was a small window nearby, and he could see the moonlight shining through the open space and into the chamber. It was definitely night time, and it didn't make him feel better. The incident with Eggman had occurred at some time in the afternoon, and now it was dark outside.

"Must have been knocked out for a few hours, then…" Sonic whispered to himself and shook his head slightly, trying to chase away the spots that were clouding his vision.

After remaining still for a few minutes to regain his strength, the hedgehog began to feel slightly better, and his headache was beginning to hurt less.

"Okay…Definitely not my house…" remarked the hero as he darted his emerald eyes around the room one more time. Now that his vision had fully recovered, Sonic could see that the place was an old and abandoned warehouse of some sort. It looked devastated, and there was hardly anything inside except for a few wooden crates covered in multiple layers of dust and spider webs.

"Right, I need to check up on the others" he then activated his wristwatch communicator and tried to contact his best friend.

"Great! Just my luck! No signal!" Sonic sighed in exasperation as he swung his free hand wildly to emphasize his frustration. He had hoped that Tails or Knuckles could come and pick him up for he wasn't really at the top of his game right now.

"Maybe I'll have better reception outside…"

Carefully getting to his feet and swaying a little from the residual effect of the nasty headache, Sonic walked toward the door and twisted the knob. The wooden object let out an eerie creaking noise as it was moved, a sound that echoed throughout the entire place and made Sonic's ears twitch. Headache and sudden noises certainly weren't meant to accompany one another.

Silently muttering another mild curse, Sonic gently pushed the door open and stepped out of the warehouse. In an instant, his eyes went wide as he took a look at his surroundings.

…

The sight that greeted Sonic was not the sight of the calm ocean or the busy life of a modern city or the lush green fields that he had hoped to see. Rather, it was a sight of a devastated and ruined civilization. Everywhere, piles of rubbles, debris and countless damaged vehicles littered the place, and the entire area appeared to be completely deserted. There was absolutely no sign of life anywhere, not even a tree or a single blade of grass could be spotted.

"What in the world…" muttered the shocked hedgehog as he surveyed his surroundings, his eyes the size of saucers. "Eggman's machine! That idiot! What has he done this time?"

Instantly, Sonic checked his wristwatch for any signal. To his joy, the device picked up a faint signal, not strong but still enough to make a call. Not wasting any time at all, Sonic pressed a button and contacted his friends.

"Tails? Tails! Can you hear me? Tails? Please respond!" Sonic all but shouted into the screen. He repeated time and time again, but the only thing that answered his desperate call for help was the frustrating static from the communicator.

Letting out another curse under his breath, Sonic was about to give up, but then, a sound amidst the static reached his ears.

"S…So…nic…" came the familiar voice of the fox on the other side, much to the hedgehog's delight.

"Yes, Tails? It's me. Thank goodness you're okay. I need your help. Do you copy?"

"Can't…losing…connect…world…" replied the genius briefly before the connection was terminated.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Sonic turned off his communicator and began to walk around the new area, trying to see if he could find anyone or anything that might indicate where he was.

'_Or when I am…'_ said a voice in his head, which made him shiver at the thought that he was sent to another timeline by the burst of Chaos Energy.

"No, I can't think like that" said the hedgehog as he shook his head to chase the thought away. "Calm down and think for a while Sonic, even though that's most definitely not your forte."

"Alright then, first of all, I need to know where I am. Then, maybe if I can find some place to establish a connection with Tails, he can pick me up. Yeah, that sounds about right."

With his goals set, the speedy hero was about to head to a nearby tower to survey the area from above. However, as fate would have it, a monotonous voice reached his ears and stopped him in his track.

"Halt!" said the robotic tone, which prompted Sonic to turn around. He was then greeted by a about a dozen of robots. In an instant, Sonic recognized all of them, for he had come across them not long ago.

They were the models belonging to the E-2000 series that Eggman had created, and even Sonic himself had to admit that these robots were extremely lethal. The only thing that differentiated them from what Sonic had faced was the fact that they were all painted black, as opposed to the normal red shade.

"Great! Just what I need at the moment: a welcoming committee" said the hedgehog with sarcasm dripping from every word that left his mouth.

"You are trespassing on private properties, surrender yourself this instant" said the golden E-2000R model, its cannon raised and charging in a threatening manner.

"Oh excuse me!" replied Sonic in his most sarcastic tone, "But seeing as it was your boss who put me here in the first place, I would consider myself 'invited in'."

Not another word was exchanged after that, for the hawk-like robots, under the leader's command, opened fire in rapid succession.

Using his reflexes and agility, Sonic immediately dashed around the place and dodged all incoming laser bolts. He was not happy at the idea of having to run around after recovering from a nasty dizzy spell, but it wasn't like he was given much of a choice at the moment. Once Sonic spotted an opportunity to strike, he seized it.

In one quick motion, he zoomed in on the battalion and aimed to tear them to shreds in one strike. His attempt, however, was foiled when the robots suddenly gathered together and raised their shields up, effectively blocking the hedgehog's attack and knocking him backward.

"What the…" muttered Sonic in bewilderment. As far as he could tell, Eggman's robots had never been able to display this level of intelligence or perform coordinated formations before, so a perfectly executed maneuver by the enemies left him speechless for a while.

"Well, this is going to be more troublesome than I first thought" he thought bitterly as he picked up the pace and circled his opponents, trying to dodge, distract and land a hit from behind.

The robots, seemingly having read Sonic's intention, immediately switched to another formation, with the pawns gathering around the leader to shield it from possible attacks from all directions.

…

Silently studying his opponents, Sonic narrowed his eyes in a calculating manner as he ran in circles. The moment he tried to approached the battalion of mechanical soldiers, the E-2000 robots immediately lowered their shields and shot a barrage of lethal laser beams at him.

Their balanced defensive and offensive maneuvers made it extremely difficult for Sonic to approach, but he wasn't about to give up yet.

"Hmm, it seems that those bird bots only intend to gather around and protect the leader. If that's true, they probably won't risk a breach in their formation to give chase as long as I'm still running around…which I can probably use that to my advantage" he muttered as a calculating smirk formed on his muzzle, his eyes landing on the various vehicles around the area.

Having made up his mind, Sonic then picked up the pace and ran around the group of mechanical soldiers in circles. As time passed, a blue tornado began to form, which effectively sent dirt flying everywhere, clouding the robots' radars and trapping them inside the eye.

"Maintain formation! Survey the area!" ordered the E-2000R model, and the lesser robots complied.

All of the sudden, cars' horns sounded noisily from every direction, surprising the soldiers. From the dust screen, a number of cars and minivans emerged and headed straight toward the group of robots at top speed. In an instant, multiple shots were heard as all robots destroyed all approaching vehicles with deadly precision.

Unfortunately for them, that was the beginning of their downfall.

During their target practice session, Sonic managed to leap inside the tornado he had created from above and infiltrated their rank. Landing on top of a hawk robot's shield, the hedgehog instantly unleashed a Spin Dash and cut off its cannon.

Using the dropped weapon to his advantage, he opened fire on the other robots and destroyed them almost instantly. No matter how powerful they were, getting hit by a laser bolt at point-blank range was fatal. A second later, the entire battalion was destroyed by one single organic being in the area.

"Well, that went well" Sonic commented as he tossed the stolen laser gun away and dusted his hands, "Heh, looks like I managed to pick up a few tricks on how to boost cars from Tails. Comes in handy I must say."

"Now then, where was I? Ah yes, finding a place to establish a connection."

At that moment, Sonic spotted a functioning robot out of the corner of his eyes and instantly snapped his head in that direction. The surviving E-2000 soldier managed to send a distress signal before getting torn to shreds. Though he had won this battle, the damage had already been done, and soon, he would have more buckets of bolts coming after him.

"Oh for the love of…I don't have time for this" complained Sonic as he tried to get out of the area. Unfortunately for him, a shadow emerged and foiled his intention yet again.

…

Turning his head around, Sonic looked at the mysterious newcomer. He was dressed in a futuristic bodysuit armor, which was mainly jet-black in color except for the crimson highlights that stretched along the torso, limbs, hands and back. The enigma also sported a similarly-colored metal helmet with dark reflective glass that effectively covered his facial features.

The dark warrior simply stood still and studied Sonic with utmost interest, which made the hedgehog feel nervous for some unknown reason. There was something off about this opponent, but he couldn't figure what exactly.

"Oh sorry, I didn't know it was Halloween in this part of the world" Sonic commented, trying to get a reaction out of the enigma. However, he simply stood still, not showing any sign that might indicate that he had heard what had been said.

"Okay…Another silent assailant…Like Shadow is not bad enough already" continued Sonic as he cautiously took a step backward. Something inside Sonic warned him that this opponent was not to be taken lightly. And the fact that he had managed to get to him within seconds after receiving the distress signal was a testament to his speed.

"…Identify yourself!" said the armored man at last, which slightly surprised Sonic due to the emotionless tone he had used.

"What? I'm hurt. Didn't your boss tell you about me?" retorted the hero in blue after a few seconds, "It's Sonic. Sonic the hedgehog, hero of Earth. Saved the world from imminent destruction countless times. Rings any bell, shady?"

"…Not possible. Sonic the hedgehog is not meant to be here…"

"And exactly where am I supposed to be in your opinion?"

"…Eliminate at once…" replied the armored warrior briefly before he lunged toward Sonic at a speed that caught even the fastest thing alive off-guard.

Quickly leaping backward, Sonic barely managed to evade a flying kick from the mysterious assailant.

"Hey, attacking without warning is considered cheating, man!" said Sonic, but his words fell on deaf ears.

In an instant, the armored man reached for his belt and pulled out multiple throwing projectiles and sent them hurling toward his target. With his agility, Sonic easily dodged every single one of them, but he was never truly prepared for what came after.

Before he realized, the jet-black soldier had somehow appeared right behind him, a feat that could be considered incredible in the presence of the infamous Blue Blur.

Unable to react fast enough to the sudden appearance of his counterpart, Sonic was hit squarely on the stomach with a punch, which got him down to one knee. Not stopping there just yet, the assailant subsequently kicked him in the face and sent him flying toward a nearby pile of rubbles.

…

'_Oh man…now I'm in trouble!'_ Sonic thought to himself as he coughed and dusted himself off from the debris, eyeing the unknown creature intently. '_Who or what exactly is that guy? A new model created by Eggman?'_

Wordlessly, the armored man pulled out a crimson light saber from his belt and activated it.

"Great! Nobody told me Vader adopted a new apprentice" muttered Sonic sarcastically as the black-clad warrior lunged toward him with killing intent oozing out from every fiber of his being.

Using everything he had, Sonic skillfully evaded every attempt on his life and tried his very best to keep his distance. He knew full well that he was in no position to be on the offensive, so staying alive was his priority at the very moment. Unfortunately, the other party didn't exactly plan on giving him an easy break, and he kept up the pressure on his target.

After a while, Sonic finally saw a chance to make a comeback when his enemy performed a thrust and left his side slightly open. Quickly stepping out of the way, the cobalt speedster instantly curled into a tight ball and gave his opponent a powerful Spin Dash on his side, consequently pushing him away.

The man in armor, however, didn't seem faltered in the slightest by the hero's attack. Quickly recovering from the fall and masterfully performing a series of back flips, he landed safely on his feet and took out a few more throwing stars from his belt.

"Oh great, this guy has every distance covered. Just my luck!" complained Sonic as he dodged the latest incoming projectiles. Unfortunately for him, it was a trap he never saw coming.

One of the devices exploded when it made contact with the ground and released a strange sticky goo, which spilled over Sonic's shoes and consequently grounded him to the spot.

Letting out a string of curses under his breath, Sonic tried desperately to lift his feet, but all of his effort was for naught. He was tightly glued to the spot, and there was nothing he could do to get out.

Before he knew it, a mighty fist slammed into his stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs and making black spots appear in his vision. The sudden pain forced the grounded hero to double over and fall on his knees, trying to gasp for much-needed air.

A brief moment later, he suddenly felt a gloved hand grab his quills tightly and lift his head up, forcing him to come face to face with the menacing assassin. He couldn't see the face of the man behind the helmet, but at this point, that was the least of Sonic's concern.

"It ends here" said the enigma as he raised his saber up in the air and aimed the tip directly toward his victim's throat.

Despite his best effort to squirm out of the way, Sonic quickly found himself in a hopeless situation. The only thing he could do was shooting a glare at the creature before him, who simply looked down on his trapped prey through the cold glass.

"Farewell" muttered the jet-black assailant as he attempted to thrust his weapon forward and end Sonic's life. The hedgehog, at this point, could do nothing more than close his eyes and wait for the pain to come and take him away.

…

All of the sudden, a plasma scythe appeared out of nowhere and landed right between the predator and the trapped hero, forcing the former to leap back in alarm.

Before Sonic could process what had just happened, the ground beneath him began to shake violently, and after the small quake had subsided, another mysterious character emerged in front of him. This one was dressed in a vibrant red bodysuit and a stylized helmet equipped with black shades that covered the eyes.

Before Sonic could make out what in the name of Chaos was happening, the newcomer raised his razor-like hand, which appeared to be entirely mechanical, and cut off the sticky goo that bounded his feet to the ground.

"Got him! Let's get out of here" the red-clad man said to his communicator as he casually threw a surprised Sonic over his shoulder like a sack, disregarding the hedgehog's protest.

"Affirmative!" came a muffed reply from the other line, which Sonic barely managed to make out. He was sure it came from a young woman.

"You shall not escape!" said the saber-wielding assailant as he swiftly leaped forward and aimed to slash the man in red.

Before he reached his targets, another shadow emerged from behind a boulder and landed a surprised kick in the side of his head, effectively knocking him away from the duo. The newly emerged character then picked up the futuristic scythe nearby and instantly threw a smoke bomb on the ground, which exploded immediately upon impact.

Once the smoke screen clear, both the mysterious rescuers and Sonic had vanished, leaving absolutely no trace behind. In the deserted area, only the warrior in black remained. He stood still in silence for a little while longer before walking away from scene and quietly fading into the dead of night, returning the eerie veil of silence back to the lonely location.


	4. Chapter 4: Interrogation

**Here's the next chapter. Thank you werewolf99 for correcting the mistake in the previous chapter, I really needed that. I have a bad habit of overlooking small things. :) **

**Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this latest installment of the story.  
**

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Chapter 3:  
Interrogation

During their escape, the two questionable individuals had somehow managed to put a blindfold on Sonic. Needless to say, the hedgehog didn't enjoy the idea of being unable to see while being manhandled like a sack of potato. Unfortunately, no amount of protesting and squirming could help him break free from the extraordinarily strong grip of the red-clad character.

He could hear them mutter something that sounded like "Done scanning yet?" and "He's clear, no chip detected."

"Not to be rude or anything, but ah, where exactly are you taking me?" said Sonic rather loudly as he tried in vain to peel the cold mechanical arm off of his waist.

"Quit moving and be quiet if you don't want to get spotted or shot" replied the deep and serious voice of the strongman, who constantly looked around his shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed.

"We're almost there" said another voice, which Sonic recognized as the one belonging to the woman he had heard from the communicator, "Once we're at a secure area, we'll talk."

"Or maybe let me call the freaking police for brutally violating my constitutional rights" retorted the ticked off hedgehog as he finally resigned himself to the situation. He really hated being off his feet for whatever reasons.

Not another word was uttered after that little outburst. As fast as their legs could travel, the enigmatic duo swiftly moved through various areas, using the perpetual veil of darkness to mask their movements and presence.

After an unspecified amount of time had come to pass, Sonic felt that the one carrying him had come to a complete stop, which could only mean that they had finally arrived at the 'secure area' that the woman had mentioned. The place was some sort of bunker equipped with basic essentials, not that Sonic could see anything through the cloth.

"Okay, if we've arrived, could you…Oof!" he began only to be cut off when the strongman dumped him on the cold metal floor unceremoniously, "Put me down…Thank you!" added Sonic sarcastically. "Can I take this thing off now?"

"Yes" replied the woman, at which point Sonic instantly ripped the cloth off his face. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the new location, and when they had, Sonic turned around and spotted the duo that had taken him away from the saber-wielding fighter.

"I bet you have a lot of questions you want answers to, and so do we" said the masked female. She was dressed an almost identical suit of armor as her bulkier partner, except for the fact that hers was of the shade of cherry blossom pink. The skintight bodysuit underneath the armor plates was of a darker shade, which appeared almost black in the dead of night. In addition, Sonic could also see that there was a staff-like device strapped around her back, which seemed to be the plasma scythe that had saved him from certain demise earlier.

"Okay…Let's play twenty questions to get to know one another, shall we?" said the hedgehog in a forced cheerful tone, trying to see whether the people in front of him were friends or foes.

Out of the blue, the one in red stomped toward him in an intimidating fashion, gradually backing him into the wall behind. He would have easily avoided this type of opponent with no apparent difficulties, but he was trapped in a closed space, as well as an unknown location. Therefore, running off without any idea where to go could be more dangerous than facing the masked duo.

Before Sonic could even blink, a fist was thrown, missing the hedgehog's face by a few inches. The force of the sudden warning shot was so strong that it shook the very foundation of the structure they were in. He was sure he heard a sigh coming from the enigmatic female, but he couldn't be sure.

"Who are you?" growled the intimidating masked man, his voice signaling that he was in no mood to fool around.

Sonic managed to appear indifferent despite himself, and looked directly into the eyes behind the dark shades with a neutral expression.

"Excuse me" he said in his normal tone, "I'm taught to never, ever reveal my name to strangers, especially hostile ones."

The strongman raised his mechanical arm in the air impatiently and threateningly. However, before he could strike the trapped hedgehog, the woman placed a hand on his shoulder and stopped him in his track.

"Why don't you take a little walk outside to cool down and let me handle this?" she said in a soothing tone, one that was filled with warmth and comfort. However, to Sonic, it seemed like there was something akin to sadness mixed in, despite her obvious effort to conceal it.

Turning to look at her, the red-clad individual stood still in silence for a while before turning back to look Sonic in the eye. With a growl of frustration, he stomped away and disappeared through the front door, leaving his more rational partner behind to deal with the confused and lost hero.

…

"I sincerely apologize for the rude welcoming" she finally said after letting silence take reign for a while to have Sonic calm down, "But in light of the current situation, we can't afford to drop our guard, no matter what."

"It's cool, I guess. At least you're not trying to kill me like Brute Lee there" Sonic shrugged in a light-hearted manner, showing his host that he harbored no hard feeling, at least toward her. "He kind of reminds me of a certain guy I know – pushy, violence-prone, really bad-tempered and really grumpy."

"…I suppose…" said the armored female an amused chuckle, but the deep-seated sadness was not lost on Sonic as the sound reached his sensitive ears.

"Oh yes, where did I ever get his pretty head of mine? Ahem, Sonic the hedgehog, nice to meet you" he said, extending his hand in a friendly manner. After all, the strange woman showed no sign of hostility or killing intent toward him.

At that moment, time seemed to come to a complete stop, for the woman just stood still and stared at the cobalt hero before her. Even though her eyes were covered by the dark glass, Sonic was sure she was silently studying him with utmost interest, and it made him feel somewhat uneasy.

"…Anyway…what is it you want to ask?" he said, dropping his hand, in an attempt to lift the awkward atmosphere that had befallen the place, "I've just got sent here, so I'm not sure how helpful my answers will be…other than my name, of course."

"Sent here?" questioned the woman with interest.

"Well, long story short, my friends and I were fighting against a certain enemy of ours. We won, but he activated his machine that could alter reality. I tried to stop it and I seemed to have succeeded, but I got sent here as a result of a big boom in the base."

"…I see…" she mused, absent-mindedly rubbing her chin despite wearing a helmet that shrouded her facial features.

"Ah, if you don't mind me asking, why are you wearing helmets inside?' Sonic asked.

"Hmm?"

Raising an eye ridge, the hedgehog simply gestured to the stylized headwear she was wearing and shrugged.

"Oh, that…" she said, "I'm sorry, does it make you feel uncomfortable?"

"A little, yes. Kind of stuffy to look at I must admit" he shrugged again, "But I guess I'm used to seeing strange things. Besides, it doesn't seem to bother you, so whatever floats your boat."

"In any case…S-Sonic…" she began after a short while, and the hedgehog in question did not miss how she almost choked at the sound of his name, which further puzzled him, "Ahem…Would you like something to eat or drink? I'm sure getting transported to a different…place must have been an exhausting experience for you."

"Well, if you don't mind having me!" said the hedgehog happily, but still cautious in case there was an ulterior motive, "Do you have chilidogs by any chance?"

Suddenly, the armored woman fell silent yet again, but this time, she managed to recover faster. She quickly turned around and made her way toward a cooler nearby to pull out a frozen chilidog.

"I hope you don't mind having frozen food. We don't normally expect guests here" she said as she tossed Sonic the treat, who casually caught it with no apparent difficulty. '_I can see why'_ he mused as he stole a glance toward the exit where the hothead man had disappeared to a while ago.

"Heh, no sweat, ma'am. It's cool, no pun intended" he replied while spinning the chilidog in his hand for a while before putting it in his mouth, earning another secretive chuckle from his mysterious hostess.

"Hmm, not too shabby! A little cold, but still delish! Kind of reminds me of Tails' first attempt at making this. Ah, good times…"

Sonic continued to chow down on his food blissfully, and thus, he missed the visible flinch that his host had displayed at the mention of the fox's name.

…

"Now that feels good" Sonic exclaimed happily after biting his last bite, rubbing his belly to emphasize his point, "Thanks for the treat."

"You are certainly an outspoken and amiable young man, aren't you?" the woman remarked as she leaned against the counter and looked at her guest.

"Well, people say that's part of my charm. Besides, you seem like a nice person…Well, actually you're the only person here I've met so far who hasn't tried to kill me tonight."

"Oh, rest assured, I have no intention of maiming anyone tonight. Do forgive my partner, however. He is just a little too cautious and paranoid about our safety after certain…mishaps…" Again with the occasional pauses that Sonic never once missed. This woman was definitely hiding something - that much he could tell. However, for the time being, Sonic was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, for she seemed to be a reasonable type of person, as well as the fact that she had saved his life earlier.

"Coke?" she asked as she raised the can up, and Sonic simply smiled in appreciation and nodded his head politely.

"I would have invited you to have a glass of Vodka, but you don't seem old enough to consume alcohol yet. Speaking of which, how old are you exactly?" she continued and tossed the can to the young hedgehog.

"Fifteen" replied the hedgehog as he casually opened the tin container of beverage and started drinking, "And thank you for your concern. I appreciate it."

"…I see…Fifteen, huh…" she mused silently, her eyes never once leaving Sonic, "That's awfully young for someone to be fighting against mad men who want to alter reality, isn't it?"

"Nah, you'll get used to after a while. Besides, I have great friends with me, and we always have a blast whenever we go on an adventure. Some of them are even like family to me, too."

"He he…That sounds nice…" replied the scythe-wielding fighter with a slight edge of sadness lingering in her tone.

…

"Alright then," said Sonic after finishing the can of beverage and tossing it into a trash can nearby with great accuracy, "Now that we're done, let's switch roles, shall we? I'll play interrogator this time."

"Excuse me?" the woman asked, sounding surprised.

"I have friends who are specialized in various fields, so you could say I picked up a thing or two from all of them."

"You're a clever one, aren't you?" replied the older individual as she stood upright and regarded the hedgehog with interest. Despite being on the receiving end of such an intense gaze, Sonic never once felt any malice or killing intent coming from her. '_Either she is sincere about not maiming anyone tonight, or she's crazy good at concealing her intentions'_ he thought.

"Alright, what do you want to know?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"How about we start with a formal introduction?" Sonic replied.

"You can address me by the name Ariel. It's the name of a theological angel, and that is all I can afford to tell you at the moment."

"Why angel?"

"It's a secret" she said. Not exactly feeling like prying anything out of the armored enigma for the time being, he simply kept his mouth shut and tried to think up a new topic.

"So, are you like, secret spies or something?" Sonic said.

"…I suppose you could say that."

"You really have no intention of giving me any direct answers, do you?" he said in a flat tone, earning a soft chuckle from his opponent, which seemed to imply "Neither do you".

"Okay, fair enough, I'll ask about something that is not related to you" Sonic continued as he tried to think of something else. He just couldn't ask where he was for obvious reasons, so he needed something else, and an idea came to him a split second later.

"Who was that black-armored guy that tried to kill me? You know, the light saber wielding, Darth Vader impersonator dude that almost turned me into a barbecued hog."

"…That's Tenebrae" she answered in a neutral tone, yet to Sonic, it sounded somewhat forced. "He's the lieutenant of the enemy we are fighting against, and an exceptionally dangerous fighter as you may have experienced for yourself."

"Don't remind me…So you are a secret organization then."

"I'm not sure about the secret part, but we are an organization – a resistance army created to free this world from the clutch of the tyrant, whom we refer to as Z."

"Uh huh, and does this organization of yours have a name?" Sonic asked as he surveyed the bunker.

The woman remained quiet for a while longer, debating whether or not she should continue this conversation. Despite being extremely cautious, she eventually gave up and decided to answer the hedgehog truthfully for reasons unknown to the hedgehog.

"Okay fine. I work for an organization called A.O.L, which stands for Agents Of Liberty by the way" she quickly added the last part when she saw that Sonic was about to make a potentially snarky remark regarding the name. "The purpose of our existence is as I've explained. We aim to overthrow Z and take back this world and our fates."

"Okay" replied Sonic slowly and refrained himself from making a comment on the name of her organization, "That's good to know then. I need to find a way home, but seeing as I'll be spending some time here until I find a way to reach by friends…if you need any assistance, I'll be happy to help."

"How can you offer your help to complete strangers you have only met for about a few minutes?" she asked skeptically.

"Strangers? Nah, I know you are called Ariel though I'm pretty sure that's not your real name, I know you are a fighter for freedom, and I know for a fact that you saved me back there. Speaking of which, I never said thanks for that, so thanks for that. So technically, we are not strangers. "

"…You really are an incredible being…Sonic…" she replied, a little shakily, as she shook her head in a fond manner. "Not many people would just willingly join us because we did them a favor."

"You. Saved. My. Life. And that is all I need to know…I don't judge people. Well, that and the facts that your enemies are full of lethal robots I recognize and a nasty killer who apparently knows me and wants me dead for whatever reason. So I would say you are the good guys in this case."

At the moment, Arial grew silent again. Due to the helmet, Sonic couldn't see her face, but if he were to venture a guess, he would say the expression on her visage was a frown. Honestly, he didn't know how he knew, but there was something about this character, suspicious as she was, which made him feel a sense of familiarity.

"So…" said the hedgehog as he tried to break the tension yet again, "Who is the guy in red?"

"Oh, that's Kushiel. It's…"

"The name of an angel, presumably" Sonic cut her off in a light-hearted manner. Instead of getting irritated, Ariel simply chuckled and nodded.

"How can a guy like that have a name of an angel?" Sonic questioned out loud, once again making the woman chuckle in delight.

"That's why we chose him the name of an angel of punishment. Trust me, he knows how to dish out some damage. Though I must admit while he may seem like a big and scary person, deep down, he's really kind and passionate, but you have to get through his tough skin first, which is really tough."

"Again reminds me of someone I know…" Sonic muttered with a tiny grin.

"You know a lot of people, do you?" she asked somewhat sadly as she leaned back on the counter again. In response, Sonic shrugged and smirked.

"When you travel, you get to see many things and meet many interesting people" was his reply, at which she let out another chuckle.

At that moment, she suddenly found herself being stared at by the younger hedgehog, his gaze silent and mysterious. It took her a while to compose herself under that intense gaze, but thanks to her helmet, Sonic couldn't see her face.

"Is there something in my face?" she asked in a teasing tone, which effectively broke the blue hero out of his trance.

"Oh…nothing" he replied instantly, "I'm sorry for staring, but there is something about you that I find very familiar…I can't put my finger on it, but you kind of remind me of someone…a close friend of mine to be exact. She's also very caring like you…"

"I…see…" said Ariel as she involuntarily flinched, but Sonic didn't catch that questionable reaction because he was still looking around the bunker.

After that, silence dominated the scene once more. However, unlike the previous moments, this silence was nice, tranquil and comfortable. In the middle of the rather small space, Ariel and Sonic stood still, not uttering a word.

Ariel leaned against the counter and looked at Sonic through the dark glass of her helmet, silently and secretly studying his every feature to the tiniest of details. She would continue her highly questionable action for a long time, until she finally decided that it was time for the kind veil of silence to disappear.

"Ahem, S…Sonic" she started, once again choking on the sound of his name, "I would like to say thank you in advance."

"Hmm? For what?" came his reply.

"For offering to provide us with your assistance. From what I've heard, you seem to be the type to know how to handle yourself well in dangerous and risky situations."

"That's me – just a guy who loves adventures and thrills" he exclaimed proudly and shot Ariel his infamous thumb-up post, which made her let out an inaudible gasp.

"No, I mean it, Sonic. Thank you very much" she continued, her voice rising a little, "You really are a wonderful…friend…"

At the sound of that last word, Sonic whipped his head around and looked at the armored woman incredulously. 'Friend?' he thought. The hedgehog was about to ask aloud, but he was cut off when Ariel continued.

"Whether you believe it or not Sonic, I know you…I've recognized you since you showed up on our radar. I've recognized you since I came to your rescue and took you back here. And I've confirmed it was really you since you asked for chilidogs…and just now when you gave me your endearing thumb-up post…"

"Okay?" Sonic replied skeptically.

"And the thing is, Sonic, you know me" Ariel continued as she slowly approached her young guest and stopped a few inches from him.

Not waiting for the cobalt hero to vocalize his question, she reached for her helmet and undid the straps, slowly and carefully taking it off. The moment it did, long pink quills revealed themselves, which went down to the middle of her back. Also, there were two long bangs at the sides of her face that reached down to her torso. When the helmet was completely out of the way, two striking emerald eyes looked directly into Sonic's own, almost shocking him into a stupor.

Her face looked somewhat different due to time, but there was no possible way Sonic would ever forget that face – the one that belonged to one of his earliest and most important friends. Slowly, the blue hedgehog reached out for the grown woman in front of him, his mouth agape.

"A…Amy?" he managed to utter her name at last after overcoming the initial shock.

"Yes, Sonic" the woman replied kindly as she grabbed his outstretching hand and held it tightly, a sad smile slowly forming on her face as she looked directly into the younger hedgehog's wide emerald orbs, "It's me."

"But…but that…" Sonic stammered, not sure if he was dreaming or not.

"I know, we have a lot to discuss," the fully grown version of his best friend said gently, cutting him off. "Let's start this again. My name is Amy Rose, codenamed Ariel, one of the Archlords of the Agents of Liberty. Let me be the first to say welcome to our world…my dear Sonic."

For once in his life, Sonic couldn't utter a single word after that. After all, what could he say in this situation? Absolutely nothing!

...

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**That's pretty much it for the time being. I'll try my best to update as soon as possible. Do look forward to the next chapter if you are still interested in this story. Thank you for anyone who spares some valuable time to visit my works. :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Conversations

**Well, I managed to wrap up this short chapter rather quickly, so I'll just put it up here for everyone to read. Also, I'd like to thank you everyone who spares some of their valuable time to visit this story, as well as those who have decided to follow/favorite it. I appreciate it.**

**Alright, without further ado, please enjoy and drop a few lines if you can. Flames are fine, as I live next to a firehouse anyway. :)**

* * *

Chapter 4:  
Conversations

Even after a long time had passed since the sudden revelation, Sonic still found himself frozen in place, too shocked to even utter a word. He'd had an unsettling feeling deep inside his stomach that the burst of Chaos Energy had potentially blasted him to an alternate timeline, but he had refused to believe his instincts back then. Now, however, he just realized how wrong he was.

One of his closest friends, Amy Rose, was standing right in front of him. However, she was not the small and playful girl that he was used to seeing and running away from. Rather, this Amy Rose was a fully grown woman, taller and more beautiful than any being he had ever laid eyes on. Her every feature showed that she had matured and endured a lot in life, and she now wore the expression of a calm and collected soldier instead of that of a fun-loving, dreamy girl.

'_Great! Now what am I thinking about?'_ Sonic mentally ordered himself, _'Focus on the task at hand, you idiot.'_

After that mental conversation with himself, Sonic guided his train of thoughts toward a different direction and began to think about his current predicament. In his mind, the hedgehog put two and two together and soon reached a dreadful conclusion.

If he had been sent to another dimension, the solution would have been easy enough. Tails, being the genius he was, could always come up with a way to track him down and bring him home through the use of the Chaos Emeralds back on Earth. In addition, dimension hopping was not exactly something that Sonic was unaccustomed to, seeing as he had already visited many different worlds already, and the most prominent of which was Blaze's.

However, the situation he was currently in was much more complicated, he realized. Sonic now knew that he had been sent to the future, and he had a feeling - which he was more willing to trust in light of the current events - that it was not his future. Widening his eyes at this scary thought, he slowly looked at this world's version of Amy, seeing her expression unmistakably softening into an affectionately sad smile. After a long time since he had grown silent, he finally managed to rediscover his lost voice.

"I'm trapped in the future?" he said the first thing that came to mind, which instantly made the female hedgehog sigh sadly and take a few steps back from her younger friend, allowing him some space to think things over.

"I'm afraid so, Sonic, but there is something else you need to know as well…"

"You don't have to tell me,' Sonic interjected quickly by raising his hands up, "I already have a general idea what you're about to say."

How could he not know? Judging from the way this version of Amy had been acting and how cautious she had been with her words and gestures, the blue hedgehog already had a vague idea on what she was about to disclose. The way she had been acting and asking personal questions, as well as the occasional and secretive chuckles and brief pauses in between her sentences told him plenty that this was not the future timeline of his world, his Earth, but the future of her world.

"So" Sonic began, fearing what was about to come out of his own mouth, "From the looks of things, I'm guessing this place is your world, not mine?"

It was more like an establishment of fact rather than a question. After all, how can anyone ask a question to which they already know the answer. Sonic's answer came in the form of a slow nod from the female hedgehog, confirming his initial suspicion.

"And from the very wary way you've been acting around me, I'd say this world's Sonic is…" he cut himself off right then and there, for he had figured it out already an he didn't like it one bit. Once again, how could someone even speak about their own passing? That was simply unheard of.

"…Yes…" Amy replied with a hushed voice after a moment of dreadful silence, looking away from the youthful version of her late Sonic. Her eyes at that moment shimmered with a mixture of feelings as she glanced at him. Those emerald orbs that she possessed, which Sonic had long grown used to associating with dreams and fantasies of romance, were filled with unbearable sadness, nostalgia, and indescribable pain. The pain in her eyes was so strong that Sonic himself felt like it had just physically stabbed him in the heart. It ached so much.

At that very moment of revelation, Sonic really wanted nothing more than to ask how he, or rather this world's version of himself, had left this world, but his rational mind swiftly dismissed the idea.

"I see…How long now?" was all he could say. For the time being, he decided to simply wait until he was fully ready to hear the full story, and until – he knew – Amy was ready to share that story and relive the pain.

"…Fifteen years…It's not something we want to talk about" Amy said, "Some of us still don't take your, I mean his…untimely departure well, as you may have noticed already."

"Of course…" replied the hedgehog as he thought about the way the red-clad strongman had reacted when they arrived at the bunker. He didn't need any further confirmation regarding his identity, for he already knew who the armored individual was, for – as Sonic himself had said earlier – the bulky guy reminded the cobalt hedgehog of someone he knew well.

After that latest exchange of words, the duo found themselves surrounded once again by the veil of unnerving silence. It was unbearable for both of them.

It was only after ten agonizing minutes later that Sonic decided that a change of topic was needed – something that was unrelated to his counterpart's unfortunate passing.

Hesitantly, he directed his gaze toward a pensive Amy and cleared his throat, effectively catching her attention.

"So…" he began awkwardly, which was rather strange for the normally talkative hero, "You mentioned you were an Archlord? What is that?"

Amy, at this point, simply regarded her younger friend curiously before a small yet genuine smile formed on her face. It nearly blew Sonic away at how stunning she looked when she smiled, a fact that he'd rather keep to himself for the time being.

Once again, he had to remind himself this was not his Amy; this was another version of Amy, who was technically still Amy, but an older Amy…and his line of thought abruptly ended there, for the hero of blue had no intention of self-destructing his brain any time soon.

"It's a title within our organization" replied the warrior in pink in a neutral tone, satisfied that the conversation was steered toward a lighter and less serious direction, "Archlords are high-ranking commanding officers within the organization. All personnel who are given the title of Archlords are given codenames based on theological angels, as well as their own armies and bases of operation. I am one of those individuals. Also, you've just met another."

"I see…" Sonic mused, "Wait a minute, I don't see you have any soldier."

"Some of us prefer to go solo because of...reasons" she replied, her voice lowering at the end of her sentence. Noticing the sudden and worrying change, Sonic stopped there and didn't pry any further. "Besides, my lieutenant is good at handling my men, so I have no cause for worry."

"Someone I know?" Sonic said as he tiled his head slightly. Judging from the fact that his close friend was a high-ranking agent of the resistance army, her right hand would most likely be a friend whom she trusted whole-heartedly and unconditionally.

"Let me drop you a few hints" Amy said with a light-hearted smile on her pretty face, "She's somewhat small for her age, very cute, extremely polite and really friendly, at least when she's not on the training field acting like a drill sergeant. Also, she can fly, and she is really good at making people follow her around...literally."

"Ah, say no more" replied Sonic with a shake of his head, "You know, something has been bothering me for a while" he continued, making her raise an eyebrow curiously.

"Yes?"

"Why angels?" he said softly after a dramatic pause, making Amy smile a little, which also made him grin in satisfaction as well.

"We just felt like it" was all the scythe-wielding Archlord said in response.

…

The two friends continued to talk about various things regarding the strangely named organization that Amy was working for. It was a nice break from the tension that had been haunting them since the very beginning.

Amy, for her part, really appreciated the way Sonic cleverly steered the conversation toward a lighter direction every time she was asked a question she didn't feel like answering at the moment, like how she had lost her trusty Piko Piko hammer in the midst of war. After all, the speedy hedgehog had always been more insightful than everyone had given him credit for.

"So, Ames" Sonic suddenly blurted out, out of habit of course, only to cut himself off immediately when he saw the woman in question flinch outwardly and look at him with wide eyes filled with shock. "I'm sorry, it's probably better if I call you Ariel, huh?"

At that, Amy regarded Sonic silently as another sad smile appeared.

She had never said anything about it, but inwardly, Amy had missed it so much. She had missed the way he casually called out her shortened name; she had missed the way he had tried desperately and sometimes comically to avoid her public displays of affection; she had dearly missed the time she had tried so hard to chase after him for a silly date…

Unconsciously, the grown woman approached the younger hedgehog, and before Sonic could say anything, she kneeled down to his level, wrapped her hands around his body and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Please…" she almost choked at this one simple word, "Please call me Amy or Ames, whichever you prefer!"

Sonic, after overcoming the initial surprise, smiled sadly to himself in understanding and returned her hug with his own.

Of course, it had been fifteen agonizing years for her, and fifteen years was a long time to go without hearing her name uttered in such a friendly manner. Fifteen years was a long time to go without hearing her beloved Sonic's voice calling out her childhood name. A blast of nostalgia overcame the grown female hedgehog, and she didn't know what else to do other than embrace the very friend she had missed so dearly. Her mind told her that the person before her was not her Sonic, but at this point, she didn't care. He might not be her world's Sonic, but he was Sonic the hedgehog, the same friend, the same hero, and the same being.

"Alright...Ames" Sonic spoke softly into her ears, making another happy smile appear on her face.

…

The two remained still for a while longer before Amy broke the hug.

"Thank you, Sonic" she said gently as she looked into the eyes of the cobalt hero.

"No sweat, Ames" Sonic replied cheerfully, effectively lifting her mood, "After all, that's what friends are for right?" he added and gave her another thumb-up.

"Yeah."

"Oh, and speaking of friends" Sonic began, "Where is Tails? You know, this world's Tails" he asked in his happiest tone, which normally lightened up the mood in every situation, no matter how dire.

Unfortunately, in this situation, his tone brought about a completely adverse effect. It was just an innocent question, no harm intended, but for some reason, Amy's expression changed from a happy grin to a completely horrified one in a matter of seconds, which shocked Sonic to speechlessness as well.

"What's wrong?" he hesitantly asked, fearing that this world's version of his beloved brother had suffered the same fate as his own counterpart.

"Tails…" Amy stopped right there at the sound of his name, seemingly unable to continue. To add to Sonic's confusion and fear, she diverted her eyes from him and stared at the door intently.

And Sonic seemed to understand. She was not willing to talk about this topic. However, unlike the previous topics, he couldn't just let this one slide easily, for this concerned the fate of his beloved friend and brother.

'_Even if he is not Tails from my world, he is still Tails…he's still my brother'_ he reasoned, _'I must know.'_

"I'm sorry…" Amy spoke at last, "I'm…Sigh…How about you ask Kushiel to tell you? After all, he was there when the events took place. He could tell you in greater details, more than I can ever manage."

"Okay?" Sonic said skeptically. "Where is he now?" he continued after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Right now, I would say he is at the place where the old G.U.N. Fortress was located" Amy stated as she traced her fingers on the smooth surface of the counter, her hand unconsciously reaching for a glass and a bottle of red wine nearby. "If you go now, there's a chance he's not left yet."

"Okay" was all Sonic said in response. He was too worried about what had happened to this world's Tails to care about anything else at the moment. He was about to dash toward the door and ran toward the old secret base immediately, but Amy swiftly stopped him in his track by stepping in front of him.

"There is something you need to know first, Sonic" She said before the bewildered hedgehog could even get the chance to ask.

Walking back toward the counter, Amy began to pour the red wine to the glass and held it up in the air, solemnly studying the beautiful ruby liquid shimmering under the dim light of the bunker.

Amy, oblivious to Sonic's questioning stare, continued to look at her glass with undivided attention for a while longer before turning toward him, her face showing an expression of grief and pain.

"He's probably there to pay a visit to an old friend, so approach him really carefully. He doesn't like to be disturbed over there."

After that cryptic comment, Amy drank the wine from the glass in one gulp and began to tell Sonic a story once her glass had been emptied of its content.

After hearing what Amy had to say, the hedgehog widened his emerald eyes in utter shock, and he tried his very best to process what he had just been told while refraining from breaking down entirely. He stood frozen in place for a while in order to calm himself down.

"…I see…" Sonic managed to mutter weakly as he slowly walked toward the door and placed his hand on the knob, "Thank you for telling me all this, Ames. I really appreciate it."

With that, he twisted the knob and disappeared in the eternal night outside in a blurry flash of blue, leaving the pink hedgehog alone in the small room to enjoy her lonely drink.

Once Sonic had disappeared from sight, Amy filled her glass once again. Instead of drinking it like before, she simply the fragile object on the counter, silently admiring the beautiful red liquid inside again. After muttering something to herself, the Archlord stood up, took out her communicator and began dialing.

"This is Archlord Ariel. Put me through to Archlord Zaphkiel and Archlord Eremiel immediately. It's urgent!" she commanded in an authoritative tone, which was worldly different from the one she had been using up to this point.

Ariel didn't need to wait long before two voices answered her call.

* * *

**That's all for the time being. Next time, a little action between Sonic and the Archlord of punishment. Don't miss it. Thanks for reading and stay tuned. **


	6. Chapter 6: Brawl

**Well, this chapter was a little bit difficult to write. Also, psychology is not exactly what I signed up for for my university degree. However, I think that people who are in denial are capable of the unimaginable, as you will soon find out in this chapter.**

**In any case, please don't hesitate to tell me what you think about the story so far. I welcome and appreciate every comment you give me. :)**

* * *

Chapter 5:  
Brawl

It was as Sonic had suspected before he even arrived on the scene. What had once been G.U.N.'s grandest and most well-guarded bases was now nothing more than a lonely pile of ruin and debris. Quickly, the hedgehog descended the staircases and headed to the lowest level of the base, having been told that the Archlord he was looking for would most definitely be there.

And Sonic soon spotted his target. There, in the middle of a spacious and dusty room, a lone figure stood in complete silence looking intently at a moderately large rock at the far corner, which seemed to have been carefully erected and meticulously cared for over the years.

Under the dim lighting of the former subterranean fortress, the warrior in the red armor stood solemnly, his back facing the newly arrived hedgehog in a seemingly ignorant manner. He never made any move or any noise, not even a subtle gesture of acknowledgement as Sonic cautiously approached him.

The flickering lights of the abandoned room constantly went on and off, consistently shedding small rays of light on the lone figure's metallic arm and creating a tiny dot of light within the black veil every few seconds, which pierced through the gloomy darkness that shrouded the place.

Even at a distance, Sonic could see that the dark shades that covered his eyes were still on despite how dimly lit the room was.

Not entirely sure what to do in this kind of situation, the cobalt hedgehog continued to bridge the distance between him and his savior and came to a complete stop a few seconds later. Save for the repetitive sound of the lights going on and off every few seconds, everything about the room was eerily silent and deathly still.

Seconds came and went, and minutes felt like an eternity as the two sole occupants of the area remained motionless and quiet.

"…So…" muttered Sonic quietly as he decided that he had waited long enough. However, that small utter sounded more like a deafening shout echoing throughout the lonely room.

"You're alive?" replied the red-clad Archlord, still refusing to turn around to face the blue intruder.

"Depends on which context you're using that sentence in. If you're talking about my interrogation session with Ariel, yes, I'm still alive…" said Sonic in a neutral tone. After those seemingly harmless words, the nasty veil of silence returned to reclaim its reign yet again.

"So ah…" Sonic began after a few minutes, still not entirely sure what to say, "I heard everything from Amy, I mean Ariel" he continued, only to be ignored for the umpteenth time in one night.

"Should I call you Archlord Kushiel?" the hedgehog said before a brief pause, which was like an eternity to him before he continued reluctantly, "Or would you rather I called you by your real name?"

The answer he received remained unchanged – more nerve-wrecking silence as the scary Archlord remained deathly still, making no sign that might indicate he had heard Sonic's question. After a huge intake of breath to brace himself for what was about to come, Sonic sighed audibly and hesitantly muttered a single word.

"…Knuckles…"

After that one single word, all hell broke loose.

…

Even though he had prepared himself both physically and mentally for the events that were most likely to transpire – as forewarned by Amy - Sonic couldn't help but feel shocked when the bulky Archlord bearing the name of the angel of punishment suddenly whipped his head around and, without any prior warning, threw a metal fist at his direction, which he managed to evade in the nick of time.

'_Great!'_ Sonic thought sarcastically as he agilely leaped backward and kept away from the reach of the red menace.

Due to the shades, the hedgehog couldn't see his opponent's eyes and expression, but were he to venture a guess, he would say those amethyst orbs were probably burning brightly from many conflicting emotions. It was apparent to the insightful speedster that the armored echidna in front of him was currently in a state of denial. After all, it didn't take a genius to figure out that simple fact.

It was understandable after all, as Sonic's mind reasoned, for the red loner had gone on with his life for fifteen long years after his best friend's passing. And now, all of the sudden, a younger version of that same deceased friend came to his world as a result of a freak accident, alive and well…As a consequence, the rash echidna didn't know how to react, and so he went with the only way he knew best – through the use of his namesakes.

Letting out a deafening roar that threatened to bring down what was left of the fortress, the older version of Knuckles promptly charged toward Sonic like an out-of-control locomotive, a dangerous aura radiating out from every fiber of his being. After that thunderous roar, all Sonic could see in the dimly lit room was a huge red blur lunging toward him at an incredible speed – one that even he was impressed.

…

'_Okay, I admit that I really should have seen this coming from a mile long'_ Sonic thought wryly as he expertly ordered his body to dodge and stay away from the reach of the consecutive jabs and punches that were continually being sent his way.

Using his agility and instincts, the cobalt speedster managed to evade everything attempt on his life, albeit with noticeable difficulties. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but it seemed that this world's Knuckles, or Kushiel in this case, had gotten substantially more dangerous with his hands and feet. And unfortunately for the hedgehog, the same could be said about his infernal temper.

The warrior in red continued to bombard his younger opponent with a variety of punch-based attacks, showing no sign of slowing down even after minutes had come to pass. Even though he was fast and his strike precise, Sonic, by nature, seemed to be a teensy bit faster and more flexible with his evasive maneuvers. He had not sought out Knuckles to instigate a fight, and yet he now found himself forced into one.

Every punch was skillfully dodged, every jab was gracefully evaded, and every slash made with the menacing mechanical arm was met with thin air as Sonic continued to stay away from the charging menace.

"Calm down, will you?" said Sonic somewhat impatiently as he jumped up to avoid a punch and subsequently landed on top of his attacker's outstretched arm. "I'm just here to talk."

And he spoke the truth. Sonic had intended to have a chat with the world's version of his hotheaded friend regarding the fate of his dear adoptive brother. Unfortunately for the hedgehog, words alone were more useless than what the word 'useless' entails.

'…_Knuckles…'_ Sonic mused somewhat sadly as he perched on top of the Archlord's metal hand and eyed the character with extreme caution.

With a low growl, Archlord Kushiel retracted his limb and followed up with a roundhouse kick aimed at Sonic's midsection. Luckily for the blue blur, he managed to leap back and got out of range just in time.

"…I suppose I have no choice then" Sonic muttered and let out a sigh of resignation, knowing that the only way to calm his friend down was to battle with him. "Let's talk…with tacks of brass, Knux."

Hardly had the last word left his mouth than the hedgehog started to speed up and run around the battle arena at his usual breakneck speed. Sonic's sudden actions effectively sent dirt and dust flying around the battle arena, momentarily blinding the silent fighter in red.

A split second later, a blue blur emerged from the thick screen of dust and rammed straight into Kushiel's body. The element of surprise coupled with the force of Sonic's infamous Spin Dash consequently drove the armored agent back a few steps. Using his momentum, Sonic continued to spin faster against the red-clad Archlord's midsection, aiming to knock the strongman down to the ground to gain the upper hand.

"That's all you've got?" said a gruff voice in an unimpressed manner a few moments later.

Before Sonic could even have a chance to react, two strong arms wrapped tightly around his spinning form and trapped him. Without warning, their owner tightened his hold and immediately squeezed most of the air supply out of the cobalt speedster, effectively stopping his spinning as well.

"Give it up," said the echidna in a dangerously low voice as he trapped his smaller opponent in a bone-crushing bearhug. Sonic, squirming relentlessly in pure agony, tried his very best to break free from the extraordinarily strong hold, but so far, his effort was all for naught. Even though his body was in extreme pain from being crushed by the bulkier fighter, Sonic couldn't help but flash a small grin despite himself as he looked directly into the shades covering his friend's amethyst eyes.

"…Yeah…" Sonic managed to painfully choke out with a tiny amused grin on his pain-filled face, "…Happy to see you, too…Knucklehead."

Even though his mind was currently being clouded by the almost unbearable agony from his back, Sonic could still feel an involuntary flinch coming from the silent Archlord, and that subtle act only made his grin grow a little bit wider, much to the strongman's annoyance.

"Yup…Definitely…feeling the love here…" Sonic couldn't help but throw in an irrelevant joke despite the severity of his current predicament.

"What exactly are you trying to pull?" growled Kushiel before he relaxed his hold and subsequently grabbed Sonic's wrist. In one quick motion, he slammed the hedgehog into a nearby wall, which was instantly reduced to bits upon impact.

Dusting himself off from the ground, Sonic coughed and inhaled sharply, filling up his oxygen-deprived lungs with much needed air. Once he had calmed down, he directed his soft gaze towards his current opponent. With a sad smile on his face, Sonic looked at his older friend and forced out a chuckle.

"Just like old times, huh?" he said quietly, stunning Knuckles into silence. '_Hopefully, he'll come to his senses and stop this madness…Ouch, my back…'_ thought Sonic.

Yet again, the dark shades prevented Sonic to read the larger individual's expression, and his solemn posture did little to help him guess what could be possibly going through the echidna's grief-filled mind.

…

Everything was silent after those latest words had left Sonic's mouth. Deathly silent to be precise, and Sonic did not like this suffocating atmosphere one bit.

"…Knuckles…" Sonic muttered again, shattering the eerie veil of silence.

It was a simple gesture of pure concern, and yet, Knuckles responded by letting out another deafening roar, surprising the blue blur to the point of taking a step back.

In one swift motion, the Archlord slammed his palm on the ground and tore off a large chunk of the metal floor. Effortlessly, the powerhouse agent then lifted the gigantic chunk with his metal arm as if it were weighed nothing. With a grunt, the red-clad fighter swiftly shoved the metal plate toward the otherworldly version of his late friend, his action prompt and without hesitation.

Not even wasting a single precious moment, Sonic instantly took off at the speed of sound and barely managed to avoid being crushed by the heavy projectile. The large metal chunk impacted with the ground where he had been a split second later, the sheer force of it shaking the very foundation of the former subterranean base.

"That was cutting it too close" Sonic muttered to himself in disbelief.

He knew better than anyone that Knuckles tended to be rash and extremely stubborn, but to think those traits had been greatly amplified to this extreme by the passage of time was outrageous. If Sonic hadn't known any better, he would have said that Knuckles was seriously trying to murder him simply for looking like his best friend. However, he did know better, and he understood the echidna's reason for acting the way he was.

Unfortunately for Sonic, what he didn't know was that the Archlord of punishment, having taken advantage of the hedgehog's brief moment of distraction, had stealthily approached Sonic without him knowing, and he only realized it too late.

Out of the blue, Sonic found himself pinned to the ground after a hard knee to his stomach. When he looked up, the blue blur instantly found himself face to face with a snarling echidna that could tear down a building without even trying.

'_This is definitely not my day!'_ the cobalt hero grimaced as that grim thought crossed his mind. Having been spared from the fate of being impaled by a light saber not so long ago, Sonic now faced the possibility of being knocked into a coma by this world's Knuckles in hid denial.

After that sudden ambush, time stilled yet again, and the hostile former guardian just kneeled on top of his trapped victim, looking at him with a blank face. He said nothing and just stayed still, carefully studying and looking directly into his younger counterpart's widened eyes through the dark glass of his helmet.

"How dared you…" came the gruff voice of the echidna in the form of a whisper barely loud enough for Sonic to hear. Needless to say, the trapped hero was utterly confused by the sudden words.

"How dared I what?" asked Sonic as he tiled his head a little, raising an eye ridge.

"…How dared you go and die off just like that, you bastard?" was the loud reply, one that was filled with so much anguish that it shocked the hedgehog. Admittedly, Sonic never saw that coming, nor did he expect Knuckles to be this straightforward with his feelings.

…

Widening his eyes in shock and looking at the older echidna's shades, Sonic just couldn't find a proper response to that sudden accusation.

Of course, he was not this world's Sonic, he knew that; he still hadn't heard about how his counterpart had departed from the realm of the living – something he didn't want to think about at the moment. Therefore, it would seem that Knuckles' accusation was unfair and that his attitude was totally uncalled for. After all, he had not done anything to deserve all this.

However, when he looked at this Knuckles before him, one filled with so much grief and agony, he couldn't say anything to reply to the echidna's question.

After all, what could he possibly say to soothe the pain that this version of Knuckles had had to endure for fifteen long years?

Deep down, Sonic knew well that this Knuckles didn't really expect an answer out of him.

Deep down, Sonic knew that this Knuckles realized he was not from this world, but his grief as well as the pain caused by years of loneliness had clearly gotten the better of him.

Suddenly seeing a young and vigorous Sonic out of nowhere after fifteen years silently spent mourning for him must have rubbed the dejected echidna the wrong way, and Sonic knew that – he sympathized with his older friend. Sonic knew, but he couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Knuckles and Amy, and possibly everyone else in this forsaken world, to suddenly be reminded once again of the fact that their beloved Sonic was dead and gone for good, and that the one before them was nothing more than an alien, an outsider brought here by a freak accident. And yet, to them, it was like the dead had come back to life after a long time, and without any memories of the events no less.

It must have hurt them more than they could ever bring themselves to admit – that Sonic knew.

After another moment of silence, Sonic let out a sigh and closed his eyes, thoughts about the pain and misery that his friends had been forced to endure continued to flash in his head.

"…I'm sorry…" was all he could think of in response to the echidna's accusation.

"…That's all you've got?" asked the Archlord as his tone got unmistakably softer. At that moment, the hedgehog opened his eyes and looked directly into the dark shades of Kushiel's helmet once again, clearly seeing his own reflection on the smooth surface.

For his part, the armored echidna simply let out another frustrated growl and slammed his metal fist on the ground just inches away from Sonic's face. The force of that punch brought forth another tremor inside the abandoned base, leaving cracks on the area where the metal knuckle impacted.

It would have been a terrifying experience for anyone to be trapped under the enraged Archlord at that moment. However, Sonic simply lied still and continued to hold his eye contact with the former guardian. The force of that punch did not make him falter in the slightest.

Knuckles remained where he was a little while longer before letting out a soft huff and getting off of the fallen hedgehog.

Slowly and carefully, Sonic sat up and coughed out some particles of dust that had gotten into his system earlier. The next moment when he opened his eyes after the coughing fit had subsided, he saw the red-clad Archlord's organic hand extended toward him, his palm open in an inviting manner.

With a sad chuckle, Sonic immediately accepted the echidna's offer and grabbed his outstretched hand. With a pull, Knuckles effortlessly got the speedster back on his feet.

"You said you wanted to speak?" asked Knuckles as he promptly turned his back toward the youthful version of his deceased friend, seemingly still in denial about the whole thing despite having calmed down significantly.

"Yeah…Amy told me to come see you…" Sonic replied.

"I see."

"And she also warned me about something else…" Sonic added quietly, his voice barely above a whisper that was only loud enough for his rival to hear.

Wordlessly, the echidna began to walk away from the hedgehog and toward the tombstone where he had initially been found, with Sonic silently following not far behind. The duo stopped right in front of the makeshift grave a moment later, and neither uttered a single word after that.

Yet again, Sonic found himself at a loss for words. There, right in front of him, lied the tombstone for one of his dear friends. Though faded through time, the letters that seemed to have been painstakingly engraved on the gravestone were easy to make out.

"I'm sorry" mumbled Sonic after a while, not even daring to look at the silent Archhlord. Despite having been warned by Amy beforehand of the events, the cobalt hedgehog still couldn't help but feel like his heart was torn to shreds at the sight of this lonely grave.

There, in the far corner of the old abandoned G.U.N's base, the lonely grave of Rouge the bat lied silently under the flickering lights of the dead fortress, cut off from the rest of the outside world.

...


	7. Chapter 7: Pain

**I've finally done writing this chapter. This is just another friendly conversation between Sonic and another one of his comrades, but it does hold some details that might make it worth your while. :)**

**Next time, maybe there'll be less talking and more smashing. After all, my forte lies in making booms - BIG booms. Until then, stay tuned and don't forget to speak your minds, mates. Love you all. **

* * *

Chapter 6:  
Pain

Time continued to tick away as Sonic and Knuckles stood in silence, their eyes falling on the single gravestone in front of them. It was after a rather long while had passed that Sonic dared to open his mouth to capture the attention of the intimidating echidna.

"What happened?" whispered Sonic after spending a long looking at the grave in front of him and mourning for the one whose name was forever engraved on the stone's surface. He then secretly stole a glance at his silent companion's face from the sides. As usual, Knuckles remained stoic and expressionless behind the shades of his helmet, his lips a tight thin line.

"Didn't Ariel tell you the story?" asked the Archlord in red after a short while, his eyes never moving away from the gravestone of his fallen comrade.

"No…She only warned me about your mood and told me that Rouge sacrificed herself in a mission, but she never elaborated further than that."

Knuckles understood why his colleague had done that. After all, Rouge had always been one of her most trusted confidants and friends ever since the passing of this world's Sonic.

"It was supposed to be a simple recon mission for Team Dark…" Knuckles began with a soft voice, making Sonic turn his head toward him almost instantly, "They were supposed to get in the enemies' base to gather intel. After all, they were our best infiltrators after G.U.N.'s fall."

Knuckles paused a while after that and let out an audible sigh, one that carried with it the long bottled-up anguish the echidna had been carrying for more than a decade. In a rare display of patience, Sonic simply stood still with an unreadable expression on his face and waited for his companion to resume, not wanting to rush him and risking another brutal assault like before.

And he didn't have to wait long.

"However, we made a fatal mistake" Knuckles continued, his voice barely loud enough for Sonic to hear.

"And what was that mistake?" the blue blur cautiously questioned his unpredictable partner.

"…We sent Omega along with them" replied the former guardian with another sigh, confusing the younger hedgehog, "Under normal circumstances, Omega was more than powerful enough to resist any form of mind control, but it appeared he and his teammates overestimated his own limits, just as we foolishly underestimated our enemies'."

"Team Dark easily managed to get in without being detected. Under our coordination, they successfully managed to hack into the computer mainframe and download sensitive information that could be beneficial to our cause. We were ready to pull them out from the danger zone, but it turned out everything was a bloody trap set up by Tenebrae" Knuckles continued, his face contorted into a scary snarl and his voice rising in volume at the sound of the enemies' lieutenant.

Sonic didn't need to see his eyes to know that they were burning brightly with all the infernal wrath of the netherworld itself. He might not know who this Tenebrae character was, but from what he had seen and heard, he was perhaps the most dangerous player within the enemies' ranks.

"…Everything was a damn setup by that cursed bastard" shouted Knuckles furiously as he turned to regard Sonic, making Sonic recoil from the sheer force of his voice alone. The echidna was never one to curse aloud – the cobalt hedgehog knew that very well. And thus, he realized that the experience must have been really bad to get him all riled up to the point of ignoring his use of vulgarity.

"We saw them try to fight their way out of the ambush from the cams we gave them," the red-clad Archlord resumed his story after calming himself down and turning back to look at the gravestone with an unreadable expression, "Tenebrae led a huge army of Heavy Egg-hammers and Gold Klagens to engage our agents."

"From what we managed to make out from HQ's control room, the Klagens blindsided Shadow, Rouge and Omega while they were fighting off the Egg-hammers, teleporting them into separate areas. It was Tenebrae's intention all along…to single out the most easily influenced member of the team from his partners."

"Omega?" asked Sonic in bewilderment. He had fought against Omega in the past, and the robot was without a doubt one of the most terrifying opponents he had ever faced. So how could he be an easy target for brainwashing? Sonic really had no idea.

"We watched in helplessness as Omega and Tenebrae engaged in a fierce battle" Knuckles continued, "He fought bravely and valiantly, but in the end, Tenebrae managed to overpower him and…forcibly reprogram him to hunt down his own teammates…"

Sonic, at this point, couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock. He already had an idea where this story was heading. Silently turning to look at Rouge's grave, the cobalt speedster's face turned into a sad frown, his eyes narrowed sadly.

"Shadow and Rouge had managed to rendezvous, only to be forced to fight against their own comrade…" Knuckles continued after yet another pause, his mind trying its very best to recollect the gruesome images that had been engraved into it on that fateful day.

"Shadow and Omega were locked in a death battle with one another…As time passed, it was Omega that ultimately had the upper hand. No matter how powerful Shadow was, there was no possible way he could have been at his best after fighting off battalions of Heavy Egg-hammers on his own."

"…Omega was about to finish him off with a rocket launcher…but Rouge intercepted at the last minute…" Knuckles suddenly stopped himself then and there, reluctant to carry on.

At that point of the story, it didn't take a genius to figure out the events that were about to come next. Sonic immediately closed his eyes to shut out the nasty images that had deliberately invited themselves into his mind to no avail.

He could already picture it clearly without having to hear the rest from the Archlord. The gruesome image of Rouge suddenly jumping in to intercept the incoming missile in order to save her partner and taking the full blast directly crossed his mind in perfect clarity, making the hedgehog shiver outwardly. Her mortal and exposed form then got caught within the radius blast, and after that…a limp and motionless body lying on the hard cold ground, badly charred by the explosion. At that point, Sonic closed his eyes and grimaced, his face contorted in pain as if physically struck by that very same missile that had taken his friend's life.

Knuckles darted his well-covered eyes in Sonic's direction. At the sight of the hedgehog's pain-fill expression, he simply sighed. Moving closer to the gravestone, Knuckles gently laid his organic hand on top of the tomb, silently mourning his rival's absence in his life.

"…After that, Shadow, having been greatly weakened, got captured by Tenebrae. We don't even know where he is right now…or if he's still…"

"He's still alive" said Sonic with finality in his voice as he whipped his head toward the grievous echidna's back, "He has to be. That Ultimate pain in the butt has to be alive…He's cheated death before…He's done it before…He's got to be…."

After that sudden outburst, silence took reign, and the sole occupants of the room solemnly stared at the grave of their fallen friend.

"Did you know we saw all that? That we were forced to watch all that?" Knuckles said softly, his voice cutting through the veil of silence and reaching Sonic's sensitive ears, prompting the hedgehog to look away from the bulkier echidna.

"We had to watch as all that took place before our very eyes…Ariel…Amy and I…We could only stare at the screen helplessly as our friends were forced to go up against each other…We saw how painfully Rouge left this world, and how Omega got ruthlessly dismantled afterward by Tenebrae for 'outliving his usefulness'… That bastard sent us a message through the camera we implanted on Omega! That bastard killed our friends, and I couldn't do a single thing to help! Did you know that?" he all but shouted at the last part as his hands balled into tight fists.

Sonic didn't know whether Knuckles was consciously aware or not, but his shoulders were trembling visibly, threatening to crumble from the pain and anguish that had been built up over the years.

At the sight of his confident and headstrong friend shaking like a leaf in the midst of a raging typhoon, what could Sonic say to make the pain go away? What could he possibly say to make fifteen years of sadness go away? Nothing! Nothing would suffice – he knew. No pretty words would be enough to soothe that immeasurable pain his friends had been subject to.

So wordlessly and slowly, Sonic approached the Archlord in his emotional turmoil and gently laid a hand on his trembling shoulder, offering him his company in this moment of grief. While not making any sign that he acknowledged Sonic's attempt at comforting him, Knuckles secretly felt glad, glad that at least his oldest friend was at least by his side, even though he was just an alien from another dimension.

…

"You okay, Knux?" asked Sonic as he tried to lighten the mood. Deep down, the speedster already knew that his question was useless. There was no way anyone, himself included, would be okay after having to relive that fateful day all over again.

He hadn't been there to see it happen personally, but Sonic knew how much it must have hurt, how much the event must have scarred this world's versions of his dearly beloved friends.

For the umpteenth time in one single night, Sonic sighed sadly and shook his head, trying to take in everything he had just been told. He felt salty tears rolling down his muzzle, but at that moment, Sonic – an extremely stubborn being to the very core – couldn't care less about his pride.

The hedgehog and the echidna remained where they were for a long time, which seemed like an eternity in their perception, and neither uttered a word. After all, no word was needed at the moment.

…

"Get your jelly hand off of me, hedgehog," said the Archlord all of the sudden as he shook the comforting hand off. That action, though rude in the eyes of any outsider that happened to witness, made Sonic smirk merrily at the familiar tone and the equally familiar gesture of the familiar rival.

'_At least he's still a prideful knucklehead'_ he thought in amusement as he wiped the stray tears away with his free hand, '_that much hasn't changed over the years.'_

The duo stood still for a while longer before the Archlord spoke again, his hand slowly sliding off the tombstone.

"What did you want to talk about?" Knuckles said in a whisper after he had managed to calm down from his sudden outburst of emotions. He hadn't planned to do that in front of anyone, but it just happened. Like a floodgate finally giving in when the flood became too strong to contain, everything he had been holding inside his heart broke out of their confine uncontrollably.

"What?" replied Sonic.

"I know you're not here just to talk about Rouge. You yourself said that her story was 'something else' if I remember correctly" the echidna said as he turned around to regard his smaller companion directly. "And if I know you as well as I think I do, I have a feeling I know what you want to ask."

"…Yeah…" Sonic said sheepishly, fearing what he would hear regarding the fate of another one of his friend, or in this case, his only family. "I want to ask about…you know…about our best friend…Tails…"

No sooner had he uttered that name than Knuckles let out a dangerous snarl, a murderous aura radiating from his body much like before. His hands were once again balled into tight fists, and Sonic guessed that the namesakes underneath those gloves must have already turned white at that very moment.

"Not something I want to talk about at the moment…" he growled threateningly, making the cautious speedster take a step back to avoid getting mauled by his unpredictable and mentally unstable companion.

"…Why?" asked Sonic, fear edging his voice. He silently prayed to Chaos, Light Gaia and other known entities from all religions of the world that his best friend was alive in this nightmarish realm.

"Tails…He's…He is…" Knuckles began, only to get abruptly cut off when his communicator went off rather loudly, surprising both himself and his blue partner.

"Geez, Knux, what kind of spy forgets to switch their com to silent mode?" Sonic said in a teasing manner, for he couldn't just let this golden opportunity to embarrass his older friend to pass.

"Shut your trap, hedgy" retorted the ticked-off echidna as he reached for his communicator and answered, trying his best to refrain himself from punching the living daylight out of the obnoxious snickering hedgehog next to him.

"Kushiel speaking. What is it Ariel?"

Sonic looked as Knuckles' lips part briefly like he was about to say something, only to turn into a thin line a second later.

"Understood, we'll be there in five" said the Archlord in an authoritative and serious tone before ending the call.

"Ariel expects us back at base" Knuckles began, having already switched to Kushiel mode. "She wants you to meet some people."

"Archlords, I presume" said Sonic. The armored echidna simply nodded his head. "What about Tails?"

"…I'll tell you once we are there."

"Great! First Amy and now you" Sonic whined light-heartedly with a shake of his head, "I swear you're just trying to make things difficult for me and enjoying every moment of it" he continued, making the former guardian's lips twitch upward. Before Sonic even noticed that ghost of a smile, it was instantly replaced by the signature thin line once more.

"Start running. We don't have time to fool around."

"Then I'll just make my own time. I'll be back to that bunker before you could even spell 'boom'," was Sonic's reply.

"Whoever said we were going back to that bunker?"

"Huh?"

"You and I are going to the A.O.L.'s HQ" Knuckles said as he began to walk toward the staircases leading to the upper world. "Better keep up if you don't want to get lost, Sonic."

"Oh ho, you don't want to race against me, buddy" the cobalt hero replied in a challenging manner, his eyes sparkling with uncontained excitement.

"We'll see about that. Oh and, you'd better brace yourself" Knuckles said as he turned to look at Sonic dead in the eye, "Since Tenebrae already knows you are in this world, he will stop at nothing to kill you."

"Good to know…I have to ask though…"

"What is it?" grumbled Knuckled in irritation.

"Why named your organization A.O.L.?" Isn't that name, I don't know, copyrighted?" Sonic asked with genuine curiosity lacing his voice, making the larger echidna smack his face with his organic hand.

"Shut up, Sonic!" was the reply the talkative hedgehog received from his companion, one that made him snicker merrily.

After that, Sonic turned around briefly to take one last look at Rouge's grave before taking off with the armored Archlord out of the subterranean fortress and into the dead of night.

…

Meanwhile, at a heavily fortified fortress located at the heart of Empire City, a being clad in a black armor silently treaded along a long corridor that ultimately led to a huge room at the end.

Silently entering the code, the figure opened the various layers of gates and went inside the chamber. He continued to walk toward the center of the room, and gracefully dropped down to one knee at the foot a metal stair at the far corner.

"Master, I bring troubling news" said the dark figure, his voice completely devoid of any emotion like before.

A large silhouette was seated on a large throne at the other end of the steps opened his eyes and looked down at the creature in black, his purple irises shone brightly against the darkness of his personal chamber.

"Speak, Tenebrae!" he commanded curtly.

"My forces have spotted Sonic the hedgehog in the city" replied the swordsman monotonously. In an instant the larger silhouette's eyes narrowed dangerously, and a thunderous grumble was heard afterward.

"Are you sure it was really Sonic?" he asked after musing for a short while, still looking down at his lieutenant from his mighty throne.

"Affirmative. There is no mistaking it. But he looks different from the one that we have fought against."

"Different…how?"

"The one we faced earlier was much younger, and he didn't seem to know anything about me. If I were to venture a guess, master, I would say that this Sonic is either an imposter, or…"

"An alternate version of the pest we've already squashed" the overlord finished the sentence for his henchman. At that time, another grumble was heard, echoing throughout the eerily quiet chamber. Tenebrae simply nodded his head in confirmation with his lord's suspicion.

"What are your commands, master?"

"Do away with him like you did the original vermin" came the low and instant reply of the callous tyrant, which made Tenebrae nod obediently.

"It shall be done" the swordsman replied briefly before getting up and walking out of the room in the same manner he had entered – silently like a shadow, like his own name implied.

Without another word, the deadly hunter immediately made his way outside the fortress, feeling more than ready to resume his unfinished game of cat and mouse with the hedgehog he had missed earlier that night. With a leap, Tenebrae immediately disappeared, his form blending perfectly in the veil of darkness that forever covered this nightmarish world.

…


	8. Chapter 8: Tenebrae

**I tried my best to fill this chapter with a lot of booms to make up for the lack of them in the previous chapter. Please read and find out if you are still interested in the story. And I have to remind you that there are no OCs in this story, just characters from the franchise that everyone knows and loves. :)**

**As always, thank you so much for reviewing and following this story. Without further ado, here you go, please enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 7:  
Tenebrae

In the perpetual blanket of darkness shrouding the entire world, Sonic and Knuckles moved as quickly and quietly as they possibly could, with the hedgehog running a little distance behind the echidna. Needless to say, Sonic was less than pleased.

"You do know this is one of the very few times when I purposely let you have the lead, right?" said Sonic in a rather annoyed tone, but at least he had the decency to keep his voice down to barely above a whisper to avoid detection. No matter what, running behind someone - even if that someone was a close friend - really ticked him off – his pride was damaged here.

"Yeah right. I remember whooping your sorry butt many times when we raced with Extreme Gears in the past…" retorted the grumpy Archlord in red as he continued to move along, his eyes cautiously darting around the areas they were passing through. In truth, he had no idea where that sentence had come from, for it simply came out of his mouth almost naturally –as if on instinct. And to be honest, Knuckles was very surprised by his own banter, but he didn't feel strange in the slightest. On the contrary, it felt comfortably familiar and right like it was supposed to be.

"Funny!" retorted Sonic almost immediately, "I don't seem to remember those times…You must be getting senile there, pop" the cobalt speedster teased in a light-hearted manner, a tiny smile present on his youthful face. To the hedgehog, it was like he was having another friendly rivalry session with his own Knuckles back home again, not the embittered and guarded Kushiel of this apocalyptic world. And that thought managed to calm some of his nerves.

In response, the older echidna just groaned in clear irritation and promptly ignored the latest comment made by his blue tail. However, he couldn't help but secretly smile to himself – a genuine smile this time. After all, he had spent fifteen years without making a single pointless banter, and to be honest, it brought forth a welcoming sense of nostalgia and innocence that the echidna had greatly missed. But he wasn't one to admit that any time soon, especially to Sonic.

"Shut up!" Knuckles hissed threateningly as he briefly turned his head around to look at his companion's face. God, now that he saw that familiar expression, it only made him realize how much he had truly missed that annoying smirk on the mug of the annoying speedster.

"Whatever you say, Knux" was all that Sonic said, making the outwardly serious Archlord turn around and refocus on the task at hand.

"So how far until we reach this secret base of yours?" Sonic asked after a brief moment of comfortable silence between the two.

"We're almost there. It only takes about ten more minutes of running."

"Seriously?" the hedgehog asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"That's how you avoid getting your base spotted in this hell hole if that's what you're wondering." In response to that, Sonic simply hummed thoughtfully and let the matter.

The duo continued to run for a while longer, before Knuckles suddenly skidded to a stop, making the hedgehog ram face first into the heavily armored back of his companion.

"How about a prior warning next time you brake, Knux? Just because you're a walking red light doesn't mean you can't give a warning signal" whispered Sonic as he rubbed his sore nose and frowned at his friend. His words fell on deaf ears, however, as the silent echidna chose to ignore him completely in favor of something else more pressing at the moment.

They were currently hiding behind what was left of an apartment complex.

"No. Noise. Got it?" commanded the echidna as quietly as he possibly could, his trained eyes spotting a horde of robots patrolling the area. Even though it was dark, Knuckles and Sonic could still see what they were up against. The enemies mostly consisted of the SCR models equipped with basic firearms, a few problematic Egg-hammers, and a battalion of Egg Pawns which could be seen walking aimlessly in the background. To make matters worse for them, about a dozen of the E-2000 series models were flying right above them, forcing Knuckles to drag his companion deeper into the shadows cast by the debris. _'Great! They've already begun searching for us'_ he thought.

"I take it they are searching the city for us" said Sonic as he popped his head out to take another look at the patrolling enemies. He recognized all of them, and he didn't like the situation one bit.

"Did you figure that out on your own, Sherlock?" asked the annoyed Archlord as he put his hand on the hedgehog's head and quite rudely pushed him back into the safe zone offered by the shadows.

Promptly ignoring the younger being's rather immature and hilarious pouting face and pulling out his communicator, Knuckles quickly pressed a series of buttons to send a short message to base and requested backup. Under normal circumstances, he could easily take on the brainless buckets of bolts without problem, but in light of the current situation, he really didn't want to risk having Sonic captured or worse – not that he would admit it aloud.

"Couldn't you just dig a tunnel underneath them or something?" Sonic asked quite innocently, making the more experienced soldier smack his face again.

"Yeah, so the hammer-wielding bozos over there can feel the slight tremor beneath their feet and cave us in. These robots are smarter than what you're used to, Sonic. Tenebrae reprogrammed them himself, and that bastard has caused us enough damage already. I seriously don't need more."

"We can take them easily."

"Doesn't mean we should, Sonic. I've seen enough deaths for one lifetime already, and I sure as hell can do without another one" replied Knuckles seriously, his eyes never moving away from the patrolling robots.

"…So, we're just going to sit around here and wait for Amy or any agents of yours to come?" asked Sonic in understanding.

"Yes, she's already on her way here with help. For the time being, just lay low and avoid making any sudden noise. I'd rather not attract any unwanted attention tonight. So stay close to me and follow my lead!" Knuckles commanded, making Sonic unconsciously nod his head in compliance.

…

The duo continued to stay within the proximity that their safe haven provided, watching and listening intently to every rhythmic step the robots made. They would occasionally move to a different hiding spot every now and then when they heard the enemies approaching their current location.

So far, the two heroes had been able to avoid getting spotted much to their relief, but neither the hedgehog nor the echidna could have prepared themselves for what was about to come next. They were watching the enemies when a soft noise came from above.

"…Peekabo, I see you, hiding under the stair…" said a low voice that suddenly pierced through the tranquil veil of night, shocking both Sonic and Knuckles. What made this voice particularly eerie to listen to was the fact that it held absolutely no emotion at all, completely empty, expressionless and dull – playfully dull to be exact. And it didn't take a genius to know whom the dreaded tone belonged to.

"Tenebrae!" growled Knuckles dangerously as he whipped his head up, spotting the stealthy shadow that had somehow managed to get close to their hiding location without either of them sensing his presence.

"It's the sound of your footsteps in case you are wondering. Honestly though, did you really believe you could hide from me?" the newly arrived assassin spoke again in a whispered voice as he gracefully swooped down and landed right in front of Sonic and Knuckles. Immediately, Knuckles' face turned into a scary snarl, much like an enraged beast that had just broken free from its confine, and it sacred Sonic to a certain extent.

"Shut. Up!" he said slowly and clearly, expressing his disgust and hatred toward the black-clad lieutenant, who seemed completely unfazed by the murderous aura that was constantly seeping out from the enraged Archlord. Sonic, on the other hand, took a few small steps back, feeling suffocated by the thick air surrounding the red-clad fighter.

"How rude!" replied Tenebrae with a click of his tongue before he snapped his fingers. In an instant, the large barriers that had been providing the heroes with much-needed security were blown to non-existent bits, exposing them entirely to a horde of hostile and dangerous robots coming from every known direction.

They were trapped in the middle of a warzone with no other choice but to fight their way out.

"End them!" was all the enemies' commander said before quietly fading into the shadows. At his order, all present units immediately readied their weapons and headed toward Sonic and Knuckles, who instantly assumed their fighting stances and got ready for a brutal battle.

…

"You take the SCRs and the bozos," said Knuckles after analyzing the situation, "I'll handle the E-2000s and the Pawns."

"Why do I have to fight against those golems?" Sonic asked out of pure curiosity.

"You're smaller and faster, making it more difficult to hit. Besides, can you jump twenty feet into the air to destroy those hawks?"

"Did you just admit I'm faster?" asked Sonic again with a sly smirk on his face, earning a sigh from his companion.

"Zip it, Sonic. Just do it!"

"Fine, fine, boss. But tell you what, Nike is not my style" replied Sonic cheerfully. At this point, Knuckles didn't really care to continue this conversation. Instead, he just took off and engaged the enemies.

A bunch of modified Egg Pawns made a fatal decision to jump the echidna in an attempt to overpower him with sheer number, and they soon realized their mistake the hard way.

With reflexes and skills horned over years of fighting and defying the odds, Knuckles effortlessly avoided every shot, stab, slash and rocket the Pawns threw at him and countered. In an instant too quick for the naked eye to see, the agitated Archlord activated the lethal crimson laser claws attached to his artificial limb and began to ruthlessly bisect the surrounding buckets of scrap metal. The potent energy of his weapon literally burned every victim it made contact with out of existence instantaneously, leaving no trace of them behind.

Once the Pawns had been swiftly dealt with, the echidna turned his attention toward the E-2000 robots above, which were constantly switching formations and raining laser bolts down on the battlefield. Despite their reputation as superb sharpshooters among artificial intelligence, it was downright impossible for any of the hawk-like shooters to land a hit on two of the fastest beings on the planet, as they had come to realize a few minutes into the fight.

With a single leap, Knuckles easily reached their altitude, and with a mighty swing of his metal arm, the echidna released a large crescent-shaped heat wave that simultaneously tore most of the robotic flyers to shreds. The E-2000 robots were strong in their own right, but they were still no match against an Archlord-level agent.

…

As Knuckles was going on a rampage a little distance away, Sonic was also busy with his own endeavors. Expertly dodging the hammers that the giant versions of the Pawns were wildly swinging at him, the confident and daring speedster leaped and landed squarely on top of one of the incoming metal objects. Before that particular Egg-hammer could shake him off, Sonic swiftly rode alongside the metal handle and subsequently knocked off the head of the hammer's owner, courtesy of a Spin Dash.

After losing his head, the hammer wielder began to swing its deadly weapon around carelessly, effectively knocking down everything in its path including its comrades.

"Heads up!" he hedgehog shouted excitedly as he took a leap back and landed safely on his feet, letting the headless robot take out its own kind. '_That should save me some work'_ he thought with a sly smirk on his face. Once the rampaging giant had finished its task, it was forcibly retired by an angry Knuckles nearby, who immediately shot Sonic a nasty glare for sending that sightless hunk of junk his way. In response, Sonic simply shrugged dismissively and offered his companion an apologetic smile, earning another huff from the echidna.

"Okay, I suppose you're next, huh?" said Sonic cheekily as he turned around to look at the SCR robots, which were surrounding him. "Ah yes, I remember you guys. If you can't even catch me when I'm on an air gear, what makes you think you can catch me when I'm on my feet?"

With that, Sonic immediately set out to prove his point by running around the area. In an instant, the robots turned into their wheel modes and began to give chase. They were fast, but against their current target, they were severely out of their league.

"Hmm, perfect!" Sonic muttered as he stole a glance at his stubborn chasers.

Suddenly making a sharp U-turn, the blue blur then triggered his Sonic Boost and charged head-first at the robotic wheels. The single-minded SCRs attempted to shoot him down, but all of their shots were easily avoided. As a result, the robots were hit directly by a semi-invulnerable hedgehog travelling at a speed far surpassing Mach 1 and got reduced to scraps upon impact.

"And that's that!" exclaimed the blue speedster as he skidded to a stop and took a look around the area. Thanks to Sonic and Knuckles' efforts, there were hardly any robots left standing, and even they were retreating fast.

…

"I guess I'm finished here, then" muttered Sonic as he smiled in delight, pleased that he had gotten rid of the last of the surrounding robots. He was about to walk away from the remains of the SCRs, but a hushed voice sudden reached his ears and instantly, like a spell, froze him on the spot.

"You guessed correctly, Sonic" whispered Tenebrae into the hedgehog's ear as he suddenly materialized seemingly out of nowhere, holding his saber in hand and catching the hedgehog off-guard. "You are finished, here and now!" he added briefly before swinging the lethal weapon at Sonic's exposed neck, aiming to finish his mission in one strike.

Before the saber made contact with Sonic's flesh, however, it was stopped by equally powerful claws, thus sparing the shocked blue blur from imminent demise for the second time at the hand of the same assailant.

"You will not touch him again!" shouted Knuckles furiously as his temper exploded like a volcanic eruption. Seeing Sonic about to get slain again forced his mind to relive the dreadful memories and made his blood boil. In one swift motion, the Archlord in red used his free hand to throw a mighty punch to the assassin's gut, but it was skillfully stopped by Tenebrae's palm. The force resulted from two colliding strikes created a powerful shockwave that blew the dirt and debris nearby away.

"My business is with Sonic, not you, old friend. So move!" said Tenebrae as he tried to overpower the echidna at his own game.

"Well too bad, lap dog" Knuckles snarled, slowly pushing the assassin back, "You want him, then you have to go over my dead body first."

"…That can be arranged" replied the swordsman in black before he leaned back a little,crouched down and performed a low sweep, hitting Knuckles' legs and effectively knocking the surprised Archlord off balance. In an instant, Tenebrae shot up and landed on top of the fallen echidna's stomach, trapping him under his weight.

Wordlessly, he raised his light saber in the above his head with both hands and attempted to impale his trapped victim. However, he was interrupted yet again, this time by a spinning blue ball travelling at the speed of sound. The impact was powerful, and as a result, Tenebrae was sent hurling toward a nearby pile of rocks at the speed rivaling that of a bullet train. His form then crashed onto the solid objects with a loud bang and subsequently got buried underneath the crumbling rubbles. Even though he was heavily armored, Sonic guessed that must have hurt.

"You okay?" asked Sonic as he offered his partner a hand, which the echidna accepted almost instantly.

"Yeah…" Knuckles replied and shook his head to clear his blurry vision, "…Thanks…"

"Don't mention it. You save my butt, I save your hide, that's what we do, no?" Sonic said as he flashed Knuckles a happy grin and a thumb-up, making the hardened echidna chuckle softly in amusement and nostalgia.

"I've saved you twice already, so technically, you still owe me a favor" said the Archlord, which made Sonic pout in mock exasperation yet again.

"Why are you keeping records anyway?" the hedgehog asked.

"Just feeling like it."

…

Their friendly conversation came to an abrupt end a moment later when the sound of someone shuffling underneath the rubbles assaulted their sensitive ears. Immediately, both heroes whipped their heads towards that direction and spotted Tenebrae slowly getting up and dusting himself off casually, showing no sign of having been injured at all by the nasty collision.

"Two against one, huh…" muttered the assassin as he stepped out of the debris and coolly approached the heroes. Immediately, Sonic and Knuckles assumed their respective stances in alert.

"If you're as smart as you think you are, you'll know that the odd is against you, Tenebrae" growled the Archlord in red as he activated his laser claws, raising it up in the air in a threatening manner.

"So you would think. The two of you against one of me…Now that actually makes this fight fair," replied Tenebrae calmly as he pulled out a second light saber and activated it. After performing a few complex warm-up moves with his weapons, the shady assailant turned his head toward his opponents and spoke plainly.

"Come!"

With that, both Sonic and Knuckles charged toward the enigmatic enforcer at a speed that effectively turned them into blurry images of blue and red respectively.

…

Appearing right next to Tenebrae just a second later, Knuckles immediately went on the offensive and attempted to slash his target with his claws, but the evasive swordsman easily managed to evade the strike by flipping back.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Sonic appeared behind him and performed a roundhouse kick aimed at his neck. The speed of the fastest thing alive was impressive, and if his opponent had been any ordinary fighter with above-average strength and agility, the battle would have been decided then and there.

Unfortunately for the blue blur, this time's opponent was someone whose skills easily matched or even surpassed his own, and as a result, Sonic's kick was met with thin air when Tenebrae nimbly bent forward. The next instance, the assassin swiftly twisted his body around and delivered a nasty heel to the side of the hedgehog's face, knocking him into a nearby rock.

Seizing his chance, Tenebrae, putting one saber away, pulled out a couple of throwing devices and aimed them at the motionless form of his main target. Before he could throw the projectiles, however, he felt a slight tremor underneath his feet. Instantly, he jumped forward, narrowly escaping the excruciating pain of having his legs brutally amputated by the laser claws that emerged from the same spot just seconds later.

"Well done, you almost got me there, Archlord Kushiel" taunted the swordsman with a playfully dull voice as he pointed his weapon at the echidna in a challenging manner.

In response, Knuckles said nothing. He let out a low growl and ran toward his opponent again.

…

Knuckles unleashed all of his infernal fury and burning hatred on Tenebrae that he had amassed over the years and bombarded the dark warrior with consecutive punches and slashes, allowing the swordsman no chance to retaliate whatsoever. However, Tenebrae was completely unfazed as usual, and he either gracefully parried or evaded every attack with no apparent difficulty.

"You seem to be getting rusty, old friend," Tenebrae taunted as he grabbed the echidna's wrist after successfully dodging a straight jab and twisted it painfully behind the echidna's back. "After all these years, you still hold a grudge against me" he continued by whispering softly into Knuckles' ear, further taunting him with his words.

"Shut up!" shouted Knuckles angrily as he tried to break free from his enemy's hold, but everything he tried was either ineffective or skillfully countered.

"Now then, how about I send you to the same place as that bat of yours?" Tenebrae whispered again, making Knuckles' eyes widen behind his shades. "What was her name again? Ah yes, Rouge, wasn't it? Or would you rather I helped you join your clan wherever they are right now?"

"…You monster!" retorted Knuckles in a low growl as he swung his mechanical arm backward in an attempt to smack Tenebrae's head with the metal elbow, but the assassin had predicted such a move and grabbed the echidna's arm with his free hand.

"Let's get rid of dangerous sharp things, shall we?" said the black-clad menace before brutally twisting and ripping Knuckles' artificial limb out of its place with his bare hand, forcing even the resilient echidna to let out a deafening cry of pain as his arm was torn off.

Right after having literally disarmed his opponent, Tenenbrae delivered another kick on the echidna's back and put his foot on the injury, forcing Knuckles to stay still on the ground. Still clouded by the unbearable pain of losing his metal limb, the trapped Archlord could do nothing but lie where he was, trying his very best to suppress the nasty sensation from his side.

"This ends here!" said Tenebrae softly as he slowly lifted his foot off the fallen guardian and activated his light saber. "Farewell!"

The callous swordsman was about to execute his adversary, but for the third time in one night, his plan was foiled, for Sonic had managed to recover from his fall and come to his ally's rescue in the nick of time. In one quick motion, the cobalt speedster delivered a critical Homing Attack on his target, the force of which managed to knock both the saber and its wielder down to the ground a little distance away.

"Stay away from my friend!" Sonic shouted, his anger burning even more brightly than the netherworld itself in his darkened emerald orbs. Quickly, he picked up the dropped weapon and stood in front of his injured partner in a protective manner, eyeing Tenebrae with undivided attention.

"What can you possibly do, Sonic?" said Tenebrae as he casually got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Even the all-powerful Archlord Kushiel couldn't beat me, what can a puny little outsider like you do?"

"I can still defeat you" exclaimed Sonic with conviction in his tone. At his answer, Tenebrae let out a dark and humorless chuckle, which sounded extraordinarily creepy as it echoed in the dead of night.

"That is where you are wrong. I am tasked with the mission to finish you, and finish you I shall," the pitch black assailant began, "Therefore…"

At the sound of the snap of Tenebrae's fingers, an army of Shadow Androids suddenly emerged from their hiding spots created by the darkness and pointed their weapons at the trapped heroes in the middle. Looking around at his current predicament after a sparing a worried glance at his fallen partner, helpless and in pain on the ground, Sonic frowned in frustration.

He realized then and there that there was no possible way he could fight off that many robots – Shadow Androids no less – and keep Knuckles safe at the same time. Also, there was no way to escape the battle unscathed. He hated to admit it, but he was trapped.

"I would love to say it's been nice knowing you, but I'd be lying if I did" said Tenebrae plainly before waving his hand, silently ordering the newly-arrived robots to finish the mission.

At that moment, all Sonic could see was a blinding burst of light that made him close his eyes. Moments later, a huge explosion took place.

…

Because of his closed eyes, Sonic couldn't see anything. That was normal. However, what was out of the norm was that he wasn't feeling anything – no pain whatsoever. Getting hit by a bunch of bazookas was bound to be painful, but in this case, Sonic couldn't feel any pain at all.

"Sorry I'm late," said a sudden female voice next to him, prompting Sonic to instantly open his eyes and turn toward the owner of that voice. There, right next to him was Archlord Ariel, fully suited and her plasma scythe ready for combat. "I got held up by a few goons. Are you okay?"

Letting out a sigh of relief he didn't know he had been holding, Sonic almost hugged his savior if they weren't in this situation. 'Wait a minute…' a voice interjected his thought, forcing him to look around to survey the area.

To the hedgehog's surprise, more than half of the present Shadow Androids had somehow been destroyed without him knowing anything. Confused, Sonic just stood entranced on the spot, not even realizing that Ariel was calling for his attention. It only took a hard knock on his head to make him snap out of his trance and turn to acknowledge the female Archlord.

"Yes?" Sonic muttered questioningly.

"I asked if you are injured?" repeated Ariel as she looked at Sonic, her trained eyes searching him for possible injuries.

"Oh…I'm fine. Just a few bruises here and there. Knuckles, on the other hand…" Sonic turned around to regard his fallen friend on the ground. To his surprise, his red-clad friend was gone.

"Don't worry, Sonic, if you are looking for Kushiel, he's up there" Ariel said as she pointed a finger in the air, making a panicking Sonic to send his gaze toward that direction.

To his surprise yet again, he spotted a floating machine with an oval shape hovering directly above them. Its size was about twice the size of Knuckles, and it had two large mechanical arms hover around it, all pained silver with golden linings. In the palm of one of those arms lied an unconscious Knuckles, protected by the large fingers of the robot.

"Don't worry, he's an ally" Ariel reassured Sonic immediately before he could even voice his concern. Upon hearing that, the hedgehog relaxed tremendously.

"Eremiel," shouted the scythe master, "Take us back to base now!"

"You won't escape that easily!" shouted Tenebrae as he took out his projectiles and threw them at Ariel, who easily destroyed them without much trouble with her weapon.

"Sorry to disappoint, Tenebrae, but you'll just have to go back empty-handed again today" said the armored warrior as she clicked her fingers. At that moment, the fingertips of the allied robot's free arm opened and revealed machine guns hidden inside.

Without warning, the allied robot opened fire on Tenebrae and the remaining Shadow Androids, forcing the former to take shelter behind a destroyed hotel and destroying the rest of the Shadow clones.

"We are out of here now!" Amy ordered as she took out a flash grenade and threw it on the ground near Tenebrae's location, resulting in a blinding burst of light. Once the assailant had regained his sight again, the area where his targets had once stood was found to be empty.

"They got away again…" Tenebrae muttered to himself as he took one look around the aftermath of the battle. The area was an absolute mess, with pieces of deactivated robots and chunks of rubbles lying around. After spending a few more minutes at the warzone, the silent shadow turned around and headed back to his base to plan out his next moves.


	9. Chapter 9: Allies

**Hello there, folks. Here is the latest intallment of the story. No action this time, but it is an important chapter in the overall story. Read and find out.**

**Regarding werewolf99's question, I will see what I can do. After all, I have lots of idea for this fandom, but they'll have to wait until this story is complete first. :)**

**Okay, without further ado, enjoy the next chapter. Reviews are welcome as usual. **

* * *

Chapter 8:  
Allies

"How is he doing?" Ariel asked her hovering robotic ally as she and Sonic made a mad dash toward their secret base. At the moment, Knuckles was twitching fitfully on the oval-shaped machine's open palm, grabbing his missing limb in a futile attempt to lessen the unbearable pain that was threatening to send him into the blackness of unconsciousness any time soon.

"According to my brief diagnosis, it seems that the pain is most likely caused by the sudden and forceful removal of the prosthetic arm. He will be experiencing this sensation for a while, but it will eventually become numb afterwards without any lasting effect. In short, just the usual" replied the sentient being known as Eremiel in a computerized voice, slightly surprising Sonic that there was a robot beside the late Omega on the team.

"I'm…fine…" the injured Archlord in red managed to reply in a raspy voice, trying his very best not to allow darkness to take over his pain-filled mind. In response, Ariel and Sonic said nothing and instead chose to let him be stubborn as he wished. Anything they said would be promptly ignored or denied anyway.

"We've arrived" said the flying machine again a few minutes later.

Wordlessly, the scythe-wielding Archlord entered a series of numbers from her wristwatch. A few moments later, a hidden trapdoor big enough for everyone to fit opened on the ground, and all four beings jumped into it. Once everyone had entered, the door disappeared from sight immediately as if it had never existed in the first place.

…

"Please take Kushiel to the infirmary and fix him up" said Amy as she removed her helmet and walked past Sonic, who was still eyeing his echidna friend as he let out occasional grunts of discomfort at being carried around by Eremiel. "Come with me, Sonic" Amy put a hand on the distraught hedgehog shoulder and led him into a room decorated entirely by computer screens and control panels of varying sizes and shapes.

"Let me see your head" Amy said softly as she gently pushed him down on a chair near a large round table.

"I told you, I'm fine" Sonic whined, "Why don't you take a look at Knuckles? He's got it worse than me…"

"He'll be fine, Eremiel will fix him up in no time," Amy replied before pulling out a first-aid kit and tending to a nasty-looking bruise on Sonic's head, which had formed earlier when the hedgehog had hit his head on the boulder as a result of Tenebrae's kick. Other than that injury, Sonic was perfectly okay like he claimed.

Despite his constant protests and insistences that his head felt fine, Sonic could hardly conceal the tell-tale grimace on his face when his attendant's fingers located and touched the throbbing spot.

Amy, chuckling in amusement at her friend's childish behavior, continued to tend to his wound in the most meticulous fashion fathomable, carefully and skillfully putting layers of bandages on the injury with her nimble fingers. Approximately five minutes later, she was done, much to the cobalt speedster's relief.

"There, that should do it," the armored warrior said as she carefully put the supplies back into the kit and put it away.

"You know, if you had actually planned on acting like a full-time nurse, you should have done it in the infirmary for a full score on presentation" Sonic said jokingly as he felt the bandaged wound with his hand, grimacing slightly when it stung a bit upon contact.

"I'd rather stay away from that place at the moment" Amy said in her neutral tone as she took a seat on a chair next to Sonic.

"Why?"

"When someone with an artificial limb needs 'fixing up', they have to get a new one attached to their nervous systems as a replacement, and that process can be rather…traumatizing for those who undergo it as well as those who observe it…"

"I see…" Sonic replied with a thoughtful frown on his face. His mind tried its best to block out the haunting sound of the horrifying cry Knuckles let out when Tenebrae snapped his mechanical limb off. And judging from the fact that even Amy didn't want to witness the process of fixing Knuckles up, the blue blur could only imagine how painful the process must be.

"I'm sorry, Sonic" said Amy all of the sudden, effectively snapping said hedgehog out of his trance and making him look into her sad face, "I should have arrived faster..."

"And that is where I have to cut you off, Ames" interjected Sonic almost immediately, making the older of the two sigh and look down at her lap to avoid eye contact, "You saved our lives…mine again…and that is all that matters. Better late than never, right?"

"I know that, but still…" Amy paused and sighed in frustration, dreading her next words, "I barely got there in time. What if I hadn't made it? What if I had been just one minute later? I would have lost you over again, as well as Knuckles…I just can't…I just…"

Sonic, at the moment, put on a sad smile on his face as he slowly walked towards a distraught Amy and placed a hand on her trembling ones. It was understandable, really. She had experienced too much pain in her life already – so much despair and so many tragedies had taken place right in front of her very eyes, and she had been forced to bear witness. Sonic knew she had already sacrificed so many things and lost so many friends, and having to face even a slight possibility of having to relive that same pain over again…It would have crushed her entirely, no matter how fierce and experienced a warrior she was. That grief would have taken her sanity away for good.

Sonic understood that – he had always been more perceptive than he normally let on - but he didn't think he could fully understand how Amy must have felt at that time on the battlefield when she was so close to losing more of her precious friends, and so close to losing him all over again.

"Look at me, Ames…" said Sonic patiently in an attempt to lighten up her mood, even if slightly. Hesitantly, the young woman complied, her emerald eyes now moist with unshed tears that she tried desperately to hold back, "You can sit here all day and ask yourself a bunch of 'what if's, but tell me this, is it really worth your time?" Sonic continued.

Amy, in response, tried to look down again to dodge his intense gaze, but a gloved hand on her chin gently lifted her head up again, forcing her to look into the piercing eyes of the one being to whom she had given her heart so, so long ago. Sonic persistently held his eye contact with his the older version of his friend, not wanting to have his next words ignored.

"Instead of wasting your time pondering about what could have happened and beating yourself up over something that wasn't your fault, you should focus your energy on where you should go from here, you know, the present. You arrived just in time to rescue me and Knux; you saved us, and we are alive because of you. That is what really happened – not some messed up 'what if' scenario your mind is feeding you. All you need to know now is that we are alive and well thanks to you, Ames. Look at me, and confirm it for yourself. You saved us, and don't you dare forget that."

"…Thanks, Sonic…" replied the Archlord with a tiny grin on her face, and a soft chuckle was heard afterwards. "You've always known what to say to us, back then and even now. You may not be our Sonic, but you are exactly him, in essence and in spirit. He also knew how to handle situations like this."

"Hey, that's how yours truly got his name. I don't look back, only forward. If you have time to think, then run."

Amy couldn't help but let out a soft laugh and shook her head fondly. Her hand found its way to her watery eyes and wiped the few stray tears that had managed to overcome her efforts.

"Well sorry, not all of us are speed-crazed maniacs like you, you know" she said in jest with a lovely upward twitch of her lips, a sight that made Sonic crack a satisfied grin in return.

"I know, I'm pretty unique. After all, you can't just ask to be born with this handsome visage and these amazing legs." said the cobalt hero as he gestured toward himself in a flattering manner, causing Amy to giggle in amusement, "I like to live life to the fullest, to move fast, so I don't always mourn past mistakes or losses for long…"

He then stopped there and took a look at Amy's face. With one glance and Sonic understood immediately. He could see it so very clearly: the pain of losing two of her most precious friends was still fresh in her mind. He could tell that she had tried her very best to move on, but so far had made little progress. And the evidence of that pain just manifested itself through her fear just now – the fear of losing him for the second time.

Amy, after the passing of her Sonic and Rouge, had been trying her very best to let them go by whole-heartedly embracing the persona of Archlord Ariel – a serious, calm and collected warrior - but she found that she couldn't fully learn to accept the fact. Her memories of them clung on to her tightly, refusing to give her mind peace. Even though she really wanted to accept the fact that they were gone forever, she just couldn't. And even after fifteen long years had come to pass, she was still unable to come to terms with that cold harsh reality. And she wasn't the only one.

With a sympathetic sigh, Sonic looked directly into Amy's eyes and spoke in a soothing voice so unlike his usual cheerful and sarcastic one.

"Just take as much time as you need to get over the pain inside your heart and then make for a future where that pain no longer exists. Go at your pace, you will arrive eventually."

The young woman remained silent, the smile on her face growing a little bit wider and sparkles slowly returning to her eyes. The blue blur simply nodded his head in content and gave her an encouraging smile, one that she had so dearly missed for fifteen long years of misery.

"And when you can't handle it, just let it all out. Someone will always be there to provide comfort, like I am now. Never forget that, Ames" Sonic added quietly, causing tears fall freely from the young woman's eyes once more as various emotions overwhelmed her. Before Sonic knew what was happening, he was crushed by a tight embrace, his shoulder wet from the tears that the vulnerable Amy – not Ariel – was shedding. And for once in his life, he couldn't care less about getting wet.

…

The tears continued to roll down the woman's cheeks, and after a rather long time – one that seemed like an eternity to the two hedgehogs – they dried up.

Having relieved fifteen years' worth of bottled-up pain and suffering, Amy wiped the remaining teardrops from her face and looked at the familiar grinning face of the friend in front of her. She couldn't help but smile a genuine smile at that heart-warming sight.

"You've always been more insightful than all of us combined, you know that?"

"That depends" replied Sonic softly, though the edge of humor was not lost on the older hedgehog, "I'm pretty good at giving advice when the moment calls for it. I think it's a special talent of mine."

With one shake of her head, Amy stood up from her chair.

"I feel much better now, thanks to you" she said before wiping her face and switching to her other persona, "Now, let's talk about the current situation, shall we?" Unfortunately, the transition was incomplete, for her eyes were still red from crying, and her voice a bit shaky.

"What did I say about taking your time?" asked Sonic teasingly.

"Believe it or not, you're not the only one with a lust for speed, Blue" was Amy's response, causing both of them to chuckle afterward.

All of the sudden, Amy's communicator began to vibrate, and at once, she switched to her serious side almost immediately, slightly shocking Sonic when she spoke in a calm and authoritative tone much unlike the one she had been using just a while ago.

"Eremiel, how is he?" Ariel asked, trying her best to sound normal.

"Good news is, the process is a complete success. I've given him a better limb this time, which is more durable than the previous one." replied a computerized voice from the other end, along with a very distinct grunt.

"I see, and?"

"And the bad news is, our stubborn Archlord is going to need to spend some time in bed, and that we are going to need a new bed."

"Screw that!" yelled a loud voice into the communicator, making both Sonic and Amy flinch at the sheer force of the injured echidna's voice. "There is no way I'm going to lie here all day. I have a score to settle with that lap dog."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, you brainless brute" countered Eremiel, "You are in my turf, and when I, as the doctor, tell you to rest, you will obey and lie the hell down to get some rest…Oh, don't you roll your eyes at me, mister, yeah, don't think I can't see what's under your shades, shady…Hey, stop that at once! Put the IV down…Gah! Stop that!"

"You want to go at this again, tin can? Come on then!" shouted Knuckles before a lot of unidentifiable noises were heard by Sonic and Amy, who smacked her face in a defeated manner. However, Sonic could see the corner of her lips twitch upward ever so slightly.

After that, shouts were heard coming out from the communicator, making Sonic wince visibly when some particularly strong words used by both parties brutally and consecutively assaulted his ears in perfect clarity and rapid succession, much to his dismay. Truth to be told, it was traumatizing for him. Apparently, Knuckles had been reading Shadow's dictionary in secret.

"Eremiel, please just let him do whatever he wants. We certainly don't need a repeat of last time" said the only female Archlord in the base.

"…Fine…You got lucky this time" was the robot's reply. After a few murmurs in the background, the line went off, and Ariel instantly released a frustrated sigh.

"I don't want to know about that 'last time', do I?" asked Sonic innocently.

"No, you don't. I still have nightmares about that incident, especially on really stressful days."

Mentally telling himself that he didn't really need to learn of what had transpired between a hotheaded echidna and an equally temperamental robot, Sonic simply hummed and nodded his head in a knowing manner, deciding to let the matter rest much to the woman's relief. Judging from how easily she let Knuckles off the hook so easily and willingly, Sonic came to the conclusion that this bickering was a frequent occurrence in the base.

"By the way…Who or what is Eremiel? Another robot like Omega?" Sonic questioned curiously.

"He's an Archlord like us, and like Knuckles, he's practically a one-man army even though he has many subordinates" replied Amy as she sank to her seat and leaned back, letting out a frustrated sigh at the whole thing, "Also, as you can probably tell, he doesn't have the best relationships with you-know-who."

"Who does, really?" Sonic joked with a snicker.

"Hey, cut him some slack, Blue" Amy said light-heartedly, "It's not his fault he's socially awkward" Sonic instantly chuckled at that.

"You know, you're starting to sound a lot like Rouge" replied Sonic without really thinking before he spoke, and he only realized his mistake too late when Amy's face immediately fell into a frown.

"…I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me…" said the guilty hedgehog sheepishly, trying to avoid eye contact with his friend.

"It's okay…" Amy said after a brief pause, her voice low and sad at the sound of her late friend's name, "I realize that myself, too. It's just that…we all miss her, and we try to make ourselves remember her one way or another. Some years ago, I began to talk like her at times and adopted her favorite colors for my outfit and weapons… I'm sure you already know what Knuckles does to keep his memories of her alive."

Sonic nodded solemnly, slowly diverting his gaze toward Amy, who was now wearing a sad smile on her face. After fifteen long years, the pain was still fresh, as clearly reflected in her darkened eyes. One look into those dejected orbs, and Sonic instantly felt a deep pang of guilt stabbing his heart, threatening to tear it into non-existent pieces.

"Hey, Sonic" said Amy in a soft tone as she gently placed a hand on his shoulder, "Really, it's okay. You didn't do it on purpose."

"No, but still…I'm really sorry…" he replied, earning another smile from the future version of Amy.

"They should be here any moment now" said the Archlord in a low voice as she turned toward the door, waiting expectantly for it to open. And it did just seconds later.

At the entrance, two figures stormed into the room, one red and the other white. Knuckles' face was somewhere between a snarl and a grimace, showing that he was still feeling the pain of what Amy had described a traumatizing process.

By his side, the enigmatic Archlord Eremiel hovered. Now that he was up close, Sonic was able to get a clear view of his latest and possibly biggest ally up to this point, who easily dwarfed everyone in the room.

"Next time, I'm going to use titanium instead of leather to strap you down" said the robotic Archlord briefly, ignoring a "Good luck with that!" from Knuckles, before turning his attention toward the only blue occupant of the control chamber. In an instant, his voice, still computerized, changed dramatically in term of volume.

"Why, if it isn't the otherworldly version of the famed Archlord Sariel! Ahem, pleasure to see you, I must say."

Needless to say, Sonic was confused by the reference, and he immediately looked to Amy, who was now wearing a frown, for clarification.

"It used to be our Sonic's codename – Archlord Sariel as we _used to_ address him" she said and shot a dark and positively murderous glare at the purposely insensitive Eremiel, who seemed to be deliberately ignoring the growing tension in the air.

"Ah, nice to meet you, too…I guess. And thanks for saving us" replied Sonic in a forced cheerful manner, trying to lessen the suffocating air in the chamber and consequently causing a certain echidna to snort.

"Now then, why don't we get down to business and get this emergency meeting started, shall we Ariel? I haven't much time to fool around" Eremiel said in an exaggeratedly polite tone.

"We are still one member short" replied the Archlord in question, "Zaphkiel is not here yet. He said he'd be here in a minute, and we'll wait until he does."

"Somehow I doubt that hermit will even bother to show up."

"Excuse me…" said Sonic out of the blue, attracting everyone's attention toward himself, "What meeting?"

"I called on the highest members among the Archlords around the world for an emergency meeting regarding the latest developments of this war. There are four Supreme Archlords who are recognized and ranked above other officers within the organization, and you are looking at three of them" said Ariel.

"I…see…" muttered Sonic, "And, ah…now that you mention it, I have been meaning to ask something."

"What is it?"

"Exactly who are you fighting against? I know Tenebrae is one, but he's only a lieutenant, and the one you want to bring down is a guy called 'Z', but you haven't told me who that guy is yet."

"We'll tell you the whole story once our final member is here, Sonic, I promise" Ariel said hesitantly. "It's just that, we don't want to leave out any details, no matter how small."

"Okay…But based on what I've been seeing for the night, I would say you are fighting against Eggman or possibly his descendants. I mean, his robots are practically swarming the world out there…"

Sonic was cut off abruptly when Eremiel suddenly burst out laughing, causing everyone to frown – Sonic in confusion and the others in annoyance.

"Why, that is some acute deduction and heavy accusation, Sonic. But I must say _**I**_ am flattered that you think so highly of _**me,**_ ho ho ho!"

In an instant, Sonic's eyes widened visibly as he looked at the hysterical oval-shaped robot in the room. He recognized that voice and that laughter, and now that Sonic took another closer look at the robot, he realized the Archlord in question bore uncanny resemblances to a giant, floating egg with two separate floating arms by its side.

"No…way…" the cobalt hedgehog muttered in disbelief, his eyes widened to the size of saucers and fixed on the curious machine in front of him.

Slowly, the entire upper body of the robot opened up, revealing the grinning face of the one whom Sonic least expected to see as an ally, and much less, an Archlord.

"Hello there, Sonic" said the human underneath the armor, his grin growing wider and threatening to split his face in half.

At this point, Sonic could only stare in shock at the human. After a while, the blue hedgehog managed to recover his voice, and he managed to choke out one name – one very familiar name.

"E…Eggman?"

In response, the scientist simply laughed, his obnoxiously booming voice echoing throughout the still silence of the control room…


	10. Chapter 10: Unexpected

**Yeah, I've got nothing on this chapter, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway. **

**Also, thank you all for reviewing and following this story, it really means a lot to me. :)**

* * *

Chapter 9:  
Unexpected

"E…Eggman?" muttered Sonic in great surprsie yet again, still unable to get over the fact that his nemesis was an ally of Amy and Knuckles, and an Archlord no less. 'What had this world come to?' asked a voice inside the dumbfounded hero of blue.

"You…You are an Archlord?" said Sonic after a long moment of silence during, which Eggman's booming laughter echoed throughout the chamber, much to the charging of his colleagues.

"Regrettably" said Knuckles plainly as he tried to cover his ears in a futile attempt to block out the loud and admittedly infuriating noise coming from the pompous human. At that moment, the laugh died down and Eggman turned around to regard the echidna with a frown.

"I can hear you, you know" said the frowning genius.

"I know. I meant to be LOUD!"

"Cut that out, you two" said Amy as she decided that it was time for her to step in and prevent whatever had happened to the infirmary to take place in the control chamber. With an audible sigh, the female hedgehog turned to Sonic, her expression softening immediately at the sight of his confusion.

"Sonic ," she began, capturing the attention of said hedgehog, "You may want to take a seat for this."

"Eggman?" was all Sonic could say in return, still unable to overcome the revelation that his best friends had been working closely with his most obnoxious enemy for fifteen long years – possibly longer. "Why, of all people out there, it has to be Eggman?"

"Oh, I can assure you that there is absolutely no cause for worry, old friend" replied the doctor as he hovered close Sonic's position, "I'm a changed man, as you can see. For the last decade and a half, I've completely rid myself of the malevolent evil that has for so long plagued and defiled my humanity and soul. Now, I've changed my ways, and at present, all I strive for is to make sure that our noble vision is realized, and that this world will be liberated from the tyrannical clutch of the madman whom we seek to overthrow."

"Great! Here we go again…Find yourself a pillow, Blue, this speech is going to take a while" muttered Knuckles as he unceremoniously sunk into his seat and placed his cheek on his organic palm , his expression the flawless interpretation of boredom and sleepiness.

"Sonic," said Amy this time as she tried to spare her friend from falling into a slumber before telling him everything he wanted to know, "I know you may find this very hard to believe, as your Eggman is no doubt still a diabolical, egotistical, obnoxious…"

"He's still obnoxious. Nah, scratch that, he's getting worse every year," Knuckles chimed in, making the object of the description frowned in annoyance.

"…Crazy man without an ounce of honor in his being, ready to backstab anyone in a blink of an eye to get his ways" Amy continued, deliberating ignoring an indignant protest of the fuming scientist and the roaring laughter of the satisfied echidna behind her, "But he is telling the truth. Eggman – our Eggman has changed for the better. He's on our side, and we trust him…" Ariel, at this point, was rudely interrupted by a sudden cough coming from Knuckles, "Well, most of us anyway" she added quickly with a roll of her eyes, earning another cough in subtle agreement.

"Okay…" said Sonic slowly and warily, still not fully coming to terms with the whole situation. "Even though he and Eggman have worked together in the past, their temporary partnerships always ended in the human stabbing everyone in the back one way or another. Truth to be told, Sonic still hadn't forgotten the aftermath of the Twilight Cage incident.

At Amy's reassurance, Sonic let out a sigh of relief and decided to trust her for now. After all, Eggman , though highly treacherous and diabolical, was an extremely reliable ally whenever they teamed up. Therefore, for now, Sonic was willing to give this version of Eggman the benefit of the doubt.

"Well, whether you decide to trust me or not is up to you, Sonic" said Eggman after sensing the distrust behind the hedgehog's emerald eyes. He didn't comment on it any further, and instead he simply floated to his designated place in the room and landed his exoskin. Much to Sonic's curiosity, however, the scientist never got off his mobile armor.

"In case you're wondering why I don't take this suit of armor off, I can't, so stop staring like I'm the main attraction at the zoo or something along that line" said Eggman in his usual tone when he sensed the hedgehog's questioning gaze upon him.

"Why?"

"…Knucklehead here isn't the only one to have cybernetic replacements for missing limbs…" replied Eggman in a low tone, silencing Sonic immediately after that. Said hedgehog did not ask anything else, instead, he walked toward the chair Amy had reserved for him and sat down, his expression downcast and his posture hunched.

"Argh…What is taking Zaphkiel so long?" shouted Eggman after five minutes of sitting in uncomfortable silence, his mechanical fist slamming on the table in irritation.

"Settle down, you floating golf ball" said Knuckles in a bored tone. Though he wasn't showing it, he was currently having the same thought as his undesirable partner.

"How dare you mock the wonderful design of my magnificent _Uovo Angelo (Egg Angel in Italian)? _Have you any idea how many months it took me to create this mobile fortress?"

"No, and frankly, I have no desire to know."

"Are they always like this?" asked Sonic in a hushed voice as he leaned toward Amy, who was once again wearing her signature frown on her lovely face.

"…Some days are better than others" she replied and took out her vibrating communicator.

"How is today?" asked Sonic cautiously, trying to ignore the all-out war between two Archlords that could easily break out at any given moment.

"Better than others" Amy replied briefly before putting the communicator to her ear. "Ariel speaking…Understood!" she then clapped her hands and silenced the bickering duo nearby, who instantly stopped their verbal assaults on one another and paid attention to her.

"Zaphkiel will be here in ten minutes. He told me to commence the meeting, he'll join when he arrives" she said, and instantly, Knuckles huffed, "Per usual" he muttered.

"Alright, let us commence" Amy, now reverting to her Archlord persona, said, "As you all know, there has been an unexpected event beyond our anticipation" she paused slightly to look at Sonic, and the hedgehog in blue casually waved his hand at the three present agents, a grin on his face.

"Since Sonic has generously offered to help us take down the enemies, it's only fair that we tell him fully what is going on and how it all began. After that, we can get together to form a plan."

"Yeah, I think I can skip the 'what's going on' and get to the 'how it all began' part of the story," said Sonic, "Uh, sorry…" he added quietly when three sets of eyes turned toward him.

"…Very well" Ariel replied after a moment of silence. During that time, Sonic could clearly see the pain in her eyes as her mind began to play back the memories she wished so desperately to escape from. He felt guilty for asking this from his friends, Eggman excluded, but he couldn't help it. All Sonic wanted to know was how this nightmarish future came to be, and more importantly where his beloved brother Tails was in all of this chaos.

"I suppose it's appropriate that you listen to what Kushiel has to say first, Sonic," she looked at the Archlord in question, who nodded reluctantly in response.

"…It started out normally for us. You, me…and Tails" the echidna began, and Sonic couldn't help but notice the pause as the red-clad warrior almost choked at the familiar name of his best friend.

"This numbskull here tried to tear the planet apart again with the Chaos Emeralds he managed to swipe from us" Kushiel continued and pointed sideways at the scientist in the room, who instantly flashed a rather proud smile at his current teammates, who were less than pleased with the gesture.

"Anyway, to skip the boring details, we found his base, got inside, kicked his butt and let Tails work his techno magic to defuse the 'super bomb' he had created. Everything happened according to plan, and we managed to save the world again without much complication."

"We were going to turn Eggman in to the authority to handle, but before we could, an…unexpected event happened…One that none of us could have truly prepared for…" the Archlord in red paused and looked at his mechanical limb in a thoughtful manner, seemingly mourning the loss of his original arm.

"What happened?" Sonic asked carefully, knowing that this was a sensitive topic of discussion, for everyone had become extremely tense, and the air was unmistakably thick – almost suffocating.

"…They ambushed us…" Kushiel continued, but stopped again, reluctant to finish that sentence.

"Who?" asked Sonic impatiently. He wanted to know, he needed to know what had happened to his friends on that fateful day, and he wanted the answers now.

But before Kushiel could open his mouth to continue his incoherent narrative of the story, the door to the room suddenly opened, and a sudden voice answered Sonic's question for the hesitant echidna.

"We arrived on the scene" said an eerily familiar voice belonging to an aged being, instantly prompting Sonic to whip his head toward the source to regard the newcomer. In front of him stood a very small, spherical figure with a black body and a blue head, as well as a waking stick about twice his being tightly clutched in hand.

At the sight of the newly arrived guest, all Sonic could do was stare in shock.

"Z…ZIK?" he shouted in disbelief as the unmistakable form of the oldest and wisest Zeti slowly walked inside the control chamber, his piercing eyes directed straight at him in a scrutinizing fashion.

"Master Zik, or preferably Supreme Archlord Zaphkiel as I am now known as," replied the wizened Zeti in his gruff tone as he casually walked toward his designated seat at the table and sat down, ignoring the intense gaze from the blue hedgehog that had once been his greatest enemy.

"What is that Zeti doing here?" Sonic shouted furiously all of the sudden, causing Amy to flinch at the amount of hatred and anger seeping out from her friend's mouth. To see Sonic this agitated was rare, if not unheard of, but she knew it was understandable. After all, the Zeti had almost killed everything in the past, and that hadn't sat well with Sonic.

"Well, 'that Zeti' whom you so rudely address is here to explain to you the origin of this current situation, and to help you win this war" replied Master Zik as he placed his staff on the table and looked at Sonic dead in the eyes, showing no sign of anxiety of discomfort under the intense glare from the cobalt speedster's piercing eyes.

"And I thought his reaction toward me being reformed was bad" mumbled Eggman, his eyes darting between the two in a wary manner. He had his mechanical appendages on standby should anything physically violent take place, and so did Amy and Knuckles with their respective weapons.

"Please Sonic, you have to calm down and listen first…" Amy said gently, trying to soothe the infernal anger that was building up inside her friend. The reaction she got from the normally cheerful hedgehog was one that she never expected.

"Calm down? Calm down!" he shouted in to her face, making her flinch visibly and recoil, "How can that genocidal maniac over there be a part of your team? He almost killed each and every one of you plus the entire world, and he even tried to turn Tails into a mindless killer robot to kill me for crying out loud. How in the world is he here?"

"And worse yet," Sonic continued, not letting anyone cut in, "you said HE ambushed you. So he's definitely the one behind all of this madness…" the hedgehog continued, pointing an accusing finger at the ancient being on the other side of the round table. Master Zik, during Sonic's outburst, simply sat still with a neutral and unreadable expression on his face.

"I said THEY, Sonic, not just him" replied Knuckles in an unusually soft tone in an attempt not to agitate the aggravated speedster any further, "Why don't you sit down and listen until the end of the story?"

Sonic was about to argue, but a hand gently touched his shoulder, making him turn around and come face-to-face with Amy. The grownup hedgehog nodded her head silently, a kind and knowing smile on her face.

Reluctantly, the furious blue hedgehog complied and sat back down, his wary eyes never once moved away from the questionable alien in front of him.

"Please continue" said Amy after getting back to her seat, her eyes still lingering on Sonic. In return, Knuckles nodded in compliance and resumed his narrative.

"Okay…After defeating Eggman and foiling his scheme, we were ambushed by the Zeti, who appeared to have been waiting for us to wear ourselves out. They took advantage of our weariness and struck, gaining the upper hand with the element of surprise."

"Our Sonic, Tails and I tried our very best to fight them off long enough to escape, but three weary beings against six powerful aliens was a scenario whose outcome I guess you can already predict…"

"It didn't take long until we were cornered with nowhere to run to. We really thought it was the end of the road for us. But Tails…"

"Go on," Sonic urged, his eyes narrowed dangerously at the sound of his friend's name being uttered with so much grief and sadness. Knuckles, however, hesitated, not wanting to talk about the next part. Sensing his discomfort, Eggman decided to cut in.

"I'll take it from here" said the scientist before clearing his throat.

"…In a last ditch attempt to fight back, Tails…pushed us into the emergency capsules...there were only three of them available at that time. He pushed our Sonic, Knuckles and me into the capsules and manually detonated the bomb himself…The base had a very powerful force field that could easily withstand the force of explosion, and the bomb was meant to be detonated outside the barrier. So you see, by sending us out and activating the force field with the bomb still inside, Tails effectively trapped himself within an inescapable cage along with the Zeti…It was a noble act of self-sacrifice…"

"WHAT?" shouted Sonic in disbelief as he shot up from his seat as he slammed his hands on the table, not believing what his allies were telling him. "Tails…killed himself for us…so we could get out of that situation alive…No…NO! He couldn't be…" he stopped himself there and glared murderously at the one whom I thought was responsible for his best friend's death. Other dimension or not, Tails was still Tails – his brother and best friend - and that selfless act was more than proof of that.

"YOU…You killed him. You forced him to commit suicide. How could you!" he shouted and was about to assault the expressionless Zeti. However, two mechanical arms forcibly restrained him and tied him to his seat.

"Sonic, you need to calm down, please!" Amy pleaded with her distraught friend, fearing for his sanity and everyone's safety at this point. She didn't admit it aloud, but it was tearing her heart apart to see her perpetually cheerful and upbeat friend to be consumed by grief and thoughts of revenge. She couldn't bear it, but she forced herself to remain strong for his sake.

"Let me go this instant, Eggman, or I swear I will tear your armor to shreds!" Sonic demanded with a dangerous hiss, trying to break away from his restraints to no avail. "LET ME GO! That monster and his gang killed Tails. How can you expect me to just sit still and do nothing about that? Why are you even allied with that murderer, huh? What is the meaning of this?"

"Sonic, we need you to listen to what we have to say first, to what all of us have to say…" Amy began, gesturing to everyone in the room, only to have her words ignored by Sonic, who had already resigned himself to his rare yet infernal fury. Right now, he desired nothing more than to jump at the cold Zeti in front of him and beat him senseless, yet couldn't due to Eggman's intervention.

"Don't you dare tell me that, Amy!" he hissed again, trying to squirm his way out of the arms keeping him in place. "He killed my family! My only family in the world! He may not be my Tails from my world, but he is still Tails in essence" Sonic yelled with unrestrained fury at the last part, his eyes showing that he was beyond listening to any attempt at comfort right now. He wanted revenge. For the first time in his life, Sonic desired blood. And it was scary how his eyes were at that moment, burning brightly with all the fury of the netherworld.

"…He's alive, Sonic" whispered Amy in the midst of Sonic's yelling and thrashing about. Due to the noises he was making, the hedgehog was oblivious to the words he wished to hear so desperately – the only words that could bring him out of the darkness of madness and despair that was rapidly consuming his heart and soul.

Unable to bear watching her friend slipping away from her again, Amy stood up and gave Sonic a thunderous slap across his face, effectively silencing his curses and consequently shocking everyone, save the emotionless Zeti, to speechlessness.

"Calm down and listen to me, Sonic" Amy yelled into his face, her eyes moist with new tears. Unlike last time, however, she couldn't care less who saw, she didn't give a flying flip about her title or image as an Archlord. She wanted her friend safe and sound, and that was all.

"Listen and listen well" she continued, forcing Sonic to look at her dead in the eyes, which were wide with shock and various conflicting emotions. She couldn't stand seeing him like this, but for his sake, Amy forced herself to remain strong.

"Tails is alive!" the pink hedgehog said with finality in her voice, making Sonic's mouth go agape, once again too stunned to utter a word. '_Alive…Tails is alive?_' a small voice in his mind repeated, and hope began to chase away the darkness of despair that had been clouding his mind up to this point.

"R-R-Really? Tails is still alive? Are you serious?" Sonic stammered like a child learning how to speak, too shocked to sound coherent, "He's still alive?"

"Yes, Sonic" Knuckles confirmed from where he was seated, "Tails is alive…"

"Then…where is he? Where is my Tails?" Sonic all but shouted again, tears of joy rolling unchecked down his cheeks as his radiant eyes looked at Amy and Knuckles hopefully.

The echidna suddenly grimaced and gave his partner a meaningful look, which she returned with a weak and hesitant nod. With a frustrated sigh, Knuckles leaned back on his seat briefly before looking Sonic again.

"Tails is fine, Sonic" he began, "And regarding where he currently is…Well…"

"Tell me, please!" the hedgehog pleaded.

"…Actually Sonic, you've already met him…" Knuckles continued in a low tone as he looked away, trying to avoid eye contact with his friend.

"What?" Sonic asked, dumbfounded.

"I said you've already met him, Sonic, twice to be precise. And the worst thing is, in both times you two encountered, he tried to murder you in cold blood."

At that point, all Sonic could do was stare at his red-clad friend wordlessly, utterly shocked by the sudden revelation. Slowly, shock turned into disbelief, and disbelief into denial. Various emotions ran through his mind at a hundred miles per hour, making him feel like his head was going to burst any time soon.

After all, there was only one being in this world he had met who had tried to kill him, and who had almost succeeded if not for his friends' timely interventions. Shaking his head slowly, Sonic hid his face in his hands, refusing to believe it. Tails was alive, and he was trying to kill him. That must mean that Tails was…

"Yes, Sonic…" said Amy this time as she put a gentle hand on Sonic's shoulder, offering him as much comfort as she could muster at the moment, "Tails is the creature we now refer to as Tenebrae…Our most dangerous enemy…"

After that confirmation, Sonic's world turned dark completely…His mind tried to tell him that everything was a bad dream, that he would wake up in his bed and laugh about it over a cup of coffee and a plate of chilidog at his brother's workshop. Part of him wished desperately for it to be so.

Unfortunately, he knew that it was impossible, for this was not a nightmare, it was reality…


	11. Chapter 11: History

**So yeah, I do realize that this story has too many cliffhangers, which are admittedly quite annoying. I apologize for that. Unfortunately, there is a limit to how many pages I can produce and proofread within one day (I'm only human after all). Also, I do have a day job at my family's café to top it off (my shift lasts from 5 AM to 1 PM plus some extra hours in the evening when busy). **

**That being said, I'll try to end each chapter nicely, but no promises there. Besides, cliffhangers make things more exciting. ;)**

**Okay, not much action in this chapter, either. It's basically one long history lesson from start to finish. The events are strictly based off of my own imagining. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Chapter 10:  
History

"Tails is…Tenebrae?" Sonic muttered weakly, finally putting his hands down and looking around at the other occupants of the control room, his eyes wide in clear disbelief. "Tails is…the enemy?" he choked, his lower lip trembling uncontrollably as he turned to Amy, who was also on the verge of breaking down as well.

"Yes, Sonic…" she replied in a low voice, her eyes downcast, and crouched down to regard her younger friend. "I know it may sound absurd to you that Tails is the one who…well, you already know the stories…Unfortunately, it's the truth. Tails – Our Tails – is long dead to us…Now, he is nothing more than a soulless and merciless killing machine."

"How…How the hell did that happen?" asked the blue hedgehog, raising his voice slightly, "Didn't you say he saved everyone by sacrificing himself?"

"That's…" Knuckles began, but he didn't have a clue how to explain to his distraught friend. In his mind, it was like having to relive the day his friend had been lost to everyone forever, replaced by an evil that nobody could expect or fathom. In his mind, it was like having to witness Sonic's descent down the path vengeance and self-destruction yet again.

The echidna , after a huge intake of breath, was about to resume the story, but a new voice – one that Sonic really had no interest in hearing at the moment – spoke up and cut him off.

"I believe I can explain that," said Master Zik, his voice seemingly devoid of any emotion and his face completely neutral. Immediately, Sonic whipped his head toward the old Zeti and shot him a glare and a threatening glare that could even force Chaos himself into submission at first glance. Despite being on the receiving end of such an intense glare, the wizened being remained unfazed and unimpressed.

"Sonic, please…" said Amy this time, her hand lightly squeezing the tense hedgehog's shoulder to calm him down, "At least listen to what he has to say. Please!" she pleaded.

The cobalt hero of blue would have ignored her and lunged for the spherical alien if it hadn't been for Eggman's restraints. After growling deeply for a while longer, he reluctantly conceded and leaned back on his chair.

"You'd better hold me tight, Eggman," Sonic threatened in a dangerously low tone, slightly scaring the scientist in the room, "Otherwise, I don't know what may happen to one of your Archlords…" In response to that, the scientist narrowed his eyes underneath his glasses.

"Your threats are amusing – brutally amusing" began Master Zik as he regarded Sonic with utmost interest.

"Just stop wasting time and speak, Zik!"

"…Fine," the Zeti replied evenly, "Continuing from where your friend leaves off, after we succeeded in cornering you and Eggman, we were about to deliver the killing blows that would have ended your lives then and there."

"However, we didn't foresee the intention of that fox…"

"Tails" interrupted Sonic yet again, wearing the same scary snarl on his face, "His name is Tails. Not 'that fox' or anything." Master Zik narrowed his eyes slightly, but made no comment on the hedgehog's interruption.

"…Like the Doctor told you, Tails pushed them inside the emergency capsules and detonated the Chaos Energy-powered bomb inside the base. However, he failed to take into account our natural Zeti ability to remotely control any electronics we desire."

"With our collective power, we forcibly shut down the entire base and cut off the energy supply. Without the energy from the emeralds, the bomb couldn't go off. Once that was done, we cornered and captured him and took him back to our base."

At this point, everyone could clearly sense a dangerous aura oozing out from Sonic's still form. His head was downcast, and that posture made it impossible for everyone to see the current expression on his face. At that moment, however, it was, in all likelihood, a sight nobody in their right mind would wish to see at the moment. In silent agreement, Amy and Knuckles wordlessly readied their weapons again just in case the restrained hero broke out and seriously injured someone – himself included.

"Once we were back, we began to force the young cub to conform to our will," continued the Zeti in an unnatural calm tone, not even intimidated in the slightest by the hedgehog on the opposite side of the table, "We began to turn the cub into a cyborg using the same process as before, only this time, Zavok and I personally supervised the transformation to make sure no stupid mistake was made during the process."

"Once that was done, we performed surgery on Tails and implanted a microchip in his brain, which made him completely susceptible to our manipulation of magnetic fields like all electronics out there."

A sudden and rather loud cracking noise was then heard coming from the restrained hedgehog, catching everyone's attention instantly. When they looked at the cobalt speedster, they saw that his fingers were wrapped tightly around one of Eggman's arms with so much force that multiple cracks began to appear on the surface. Nobody dared speak, however. The hedgehog still didn't say anything, either; instead, he simply remained motionless and eerily quiet, his head down and his face hidden from view.

After that brief moment of distraction, Master Zik cleared his throat, one thin hand unconsciously reaching for the staff he had placed on the table in preparation for a possible brutal assault due to take place at any given moment. Without batting his trained eyes away from the seemingly despondent form of the motionless hero, the old master continued recounting his side of the story.

"…After that, the Zeti acquired a new enforcer whose skills were utterly unrivalled by any military forces or armies in this entire dimension. Using Tails' brain and knowledge to suit our needs, we took careful steps to cripple the infrastructures of major cities around the world from the shadows, to discreetly force all nations to wage bloody wars against one another by having the kid hack into their systems and unload their arsenals on one another. In short, we controlled Tails to commit various criminal and inhumane acts against every nation and every agency and organization in the world, all of which ultimately left this world completely defenseless against our eventual invasion."

"With the world severely devastated by the wars and the irreparable damage we had wrought, total conquest was, of course, simple for us Zeti. One by one, nations fell to our will, and one by one, people and all living things were forced to swear their eternal servitude and unquestionable to the Zeti. Within a few weeks after the conquest, we had the entire world under our thumbs without meeting any notable interference, save for a few elusive factions you probably recognize."

The old creature took a brief pause to study the current atmosphere inside the room, and instantly learned that the tension had not been cleared yet. If anything, it had somehow gotten even more suffocating as time passed, and all of that originated from one single being. The four Archlords, at that moment, thought that they were in the same room with the devil himself, but nobody made any offhand comment for fear of incurring Sonic's hellish indignation.

"With Tails' brain being used to its fullest potential, the Zeti soon grew to be a force unrivalled by any other. Our influence even extended to other places outside this planet" Master Zik continued after a short pause, still eyeing Sonic with extreme caution. "We really thought that at last, the ancient civilization of the Zeti could rise from the ashes of this dead world. However, the complete conquest of this world ultimately marked the end for us all."

"Zavok, the main orchestrator of all the events I've just told you, the one that secretly remained behind and pulled the strings of every single heinous act carried out by your friend, soon became drunk with the amount of power he had acquired. After getting his hands on the seven Chaos Emeralds, his obsession with becoming the most powerful overlord in the universe took over his mind and ate away at his sanity."

Master Zik, at this point, began to squeeze his staff tightly, his hands trembling visibly and his face beginning to show intense expressions of rage and disgust at the name of his former student.

"Consumed entirely by his own greed and delusional ambitions, Zavok continued to drift further away from me and his kin. After a while, he began to give my other students…impossible demands and orders. He was so consumed by the power of his standing and the power of the Chaos Emeralds that he began to seek out and wage war with other races in the universe, no matter how powerful and dangerous."

"His madness finally became impossible to bear when he sent Zazz into the Twilight Cage through the use of Tails' technology and knowledge to conquer that universe…He never returned after that."

"After the loss of one of our comrades, my other students and I decided to confront Zavok personally…Yet, he refused to listen to reason, clinging tightly on to his madness that had come with power and refusing to listen to anyone, including his old teacher. To Zavok, Tails, or Tenebrae, was an asset more valuable than any of his kin combined, who he had come to see as expendable pawns in his insatiable lust for conquest and dominance."

It was at this point that Sonic began to lift his head up and looked directly into the eyes of the old Zeti, who was now wearing an expression that could be best described as a mix between rage and grief. With a sigh, Master Zik looked at his palm and continued his story.

"Unable to overlook his growing insanity any longer, I, along with my remaining kin, engaged Zavok and Tenebrae in a brutal battle. We fought to the best of our ability, but Zavok, with Tenebrae and Eggman's old Fleets and armies to back him up, soon overpowered us and…"

Another pause, another pain-filled sigh...

"Zavok defeated my students and absorbed them into his body by some means unknown to me, possibly of Tenebrae…Tails' design. In an instant – one single instant as quick as a blink of an eye - I lost all of my students…all I had left of my people…gone on one fateful day because of the stupidity and greed of one single madman…the very madman whom I had personally raised and taught…"

The ancient Archlord closed his eyes to shut out the gruesome images and the haunting cries that the other Zeti had let out before disappearing forever.

"He was about to finish me off as well," he continued, now returning the gaze that Sonic had been giving him, "But I managed to escape from the fortress with my life intact, albeit barely. After an unknown number of days spent walking around the lifeless world we had created, I began to feel weary, feeling as though Death's cold embrace would come for me at any moment. And I was ready for that…After all, what else did I have? I had lost everything, my people, my students…my family…due to my own blindness and stupidity."

"However, in my most critical moments, the hands that took me was not of death, but of life" Master Zik then cast a sideway glance at Amy, a gesture that was not lost on Sonic.

"I was taken back to this base, where I was held prisoner for many years to come. During that time, I continued to offer the resistance forces valuable advice and strategies on how to fight against my former student, for I above everyone knew how his mind works, deranged or not. At first, as you can imagine, they didn't believe me. It took a bit of persuading and a long time of building up trust, but in the end, I am now here, as a Supreme Archlord. And that is my full side of the story."

…

Sonic had been sitting still and listening intently to everything the old Zeti had to say. During the entire time, he didn't make any noise, simply maintaining eye contact with Zik and keeping his expression completely neutral.

When Master Zik had finished retelling his story of how things came to be, he looked the hedgehog dead in the eyes and said in a low and calm tone.

"Sonic, I don't expect you to trust me immediately, especially since you've just come here from a time when our grudge is still fresh in your mind. However, I will tell you here and now that I no longer bear any ill will towards you and any of your friends. If anything, I probably owe you a debt of gratitude, since it was Archlord Sariel – your counterpart - who gave me a pardon for my past crimes and vouched for me for this position when everyone else voiced their protests."

"Sonic…I vouched for you?" asked the hedgehog in a low tone, his expression still unreadable.

"Yes, if you can't take my word for it, ask your lady friend over there for more detail."

Immediately, the cobalt hedgehog's eyes left the spherical Zeti and landed on its new target. Amy, who was wearing a sad smile on her face, looked at her younger friend and sighed.

"It's true, Sonic. Sariel, in his last moments, decisively gave him the title of an Archlord in person after he had provided us with a very clever strategy to destroy one of Zavok's bases and rescue all the people imprisoned there, despite all protests from all of us. However, now that we look back, it was probably the day that changed everything for us."

"How so?"

"Before that fateful day, Zavok's main strategy was to enslave humans in the same manner as what he had done with Tails in order to build up his armies and expand his influence on a galactic scale. I don't know if you can imagine this, but it was absolute hell for everyone."

"We were helplessly forced to witness the Zeti lead legions of brainwashed soldiers into towns to kidnap and force people into servitude. We really wanted to do something about that, but found that we couldn't," said Amy sadly, "His troops back then consisted entirely of brainwashed humans and beings like us, so it was difficult for any of us to fight against them…Enemies or not, they were all innocent civilians…people who had no will of their own being controlled like puppets to serve a madman."

In response, Sonic said nothing. Seeing his silence as her cue, Amy took another deep breath and continued with her explanation.

"On that day which we dubbed The Great Revolt, however, Zik gave us the location of Zavok's confidential cyborg-transformation facilities, where most of his prisoners were kept, waiting to be conformed to his will. Also, that place served as the main computer for delegating and controlling the actions of those who were brainwashed."

"Following Zik's ingenious strategy, we successfully managed to get in and liberated everyone there. Once every single one of the victims had been taken to a safe place, we destroyed everything in that base, effectively negating most of Zavok's influence over the minds of his troops and causing a massive revolt against him on a global scale."

"No matter how powerful our power is," Master Zik cut in before Sonic could ask his question, "A single Zeti cannot control electronics on a global scale. Zavok could only control about a million at best, which is a considerable feat for our kind. Therefore, to keep his legions of brainwashed troops in line, he had to rely on a highly sophisticated system to influence the rest. That being said, when controlling a target, we Zeti can do that at any given distance, no matter how far."

"…I see…" Sonic muttered in understanding.

"So, with the destruction of that central computer," Amy continued, "we successfully liberated more than two third of Zavok's men, and at that time…it also included Tails…" she cut herself off then and there, unable to meet Sonic's questioning gaze and having to tell him what came after.

"What happened?" said the hedgehog slowly with a note of authority in his tone, making Amy sigh in resignation and begin to recount the events that day.

"Like I said, it was a day of change for all of us, Sonic," she paused for a while, a frown forming on her face, "…And it was also on that day that we lost our Sonic."

The cobalt hero's eyes widened immediately, but he said nothing. He understood her hesitation, and so he waited for her to continue at her own pace. Nearby, Knuckles and Eggman also wore sad expressions on their faces as their own memories backtracked to the events that had taken place.

"We managed to rescue Tails" continued Amy after what seemed like an eternity, "but that victory was short-lived, and what started out as a wonderful day ended in tragedy for all of us."

At this point, Amy couldn't keep her composure any longer. She shut her eyes and looked away, unable to look at the face of the friend whom she believed she had failed. Seeing that heart-breaking scene, Knuckles hesitantly jumped in and told the rest of the tale.

"Our Sonic instantly went to check on Tails for reasons you can probably understand without anyone telling" he began, "At first, everyone was happy that Tails had finally been free from his curse…However, we…we never expected Zavok to…to remotely resume control of his mind chip from his base a split second later, when everyone's guard was currently at their lowest."

Realization immediately dawned on the hedgehog, and he could easily guess what came after that. His mind brought forth a gruesome image with disturbing clarity, as if it was taken from one of his own memories. Tails, controlled by the tyrannical Zeti, subsequently pulled out his sword…One stab, and blood spilt all over the floor. He shut his eyes immediately after that.

"I suppose you can already tell from the looks on your face," finished Knuckles as he looked at his cybernetic limb pensively. "We gained many followers that day, and we managed to deal a heavy blow to Zavok's system of enslavement, but we also suffered heavy losses. I have to live with this thing as a reminder for my carelessness, and so does Eggman, with both his legs now gone and being forced to remain inside his…whatever the hell he calls it. But the heaviest loss was Sonic. We lost our Sonic right after that victory…"

A brief moment of silence followed.

"Our troops managed to chase Tenebrae away and we took you back to base as fast as we possibly could. However, the damage had already been done…Your inner organs were…destroyed beyond saving by the time you entered the infirmary…You barely had seconds to live before you…well, you know the rest" said Eggman in a hushed tone as he took over, relieving Knuckles of his burden.

"And in those last seconds of life, you appointed me Archlord in front of everyone" said Zik as he stood up and looked at Sonic straight in the eyes again. "For the first time in centuries, someone thanked me for my help…especially after all the chaos and destruction I have wrought. For that, you have my gratitude, Sonic the hedgehog."

…

"…What happened next?" asked the hedgehog solemnly, his eyes studying his hands in a thoughtful manner. Seeing Sonic this quiet was somewhat unnerving for everyone inside the room, but no one was brave enough to admit that aloud.

"…After that, things began to change, quite dramatically I might add" replied Eggman, "The incident seemed to have made Zavok realize the underlying danger of relying on his chips to create his army. He didn't dare risk another worldwide revolt like that afterward – He barely managed to survive the first one thanks to Tails' weapons of mass destruction."

"Therefore, he completely switched to a new battle plan, relying solely on the machines and robots that I had abandoned in my old bases, which were given drastic modifications by you-know-who. For many years now, Zavok has yet to return to his own mind-controlling trick, with the only notable exception being Tenebrae."

"Like I said" Master Zik chimed in at this point, "Tenebrae is undoubtedly Zavok's greatest asset. From what he learned from that revolt, Zavok now focuses his energy only on controlling your friend to do his biddings and supervise his mindless robotic troops. And since Tenebrae is an extremely dangerous opponent, Zavok has absolute confidence in his abilities to defend himself against all possible threats."

"…I see" Sonic said pensively before looking at everyone in the room one by one.

After that, another session of deathly silence reigned again as the cobalt hedgehog seemed to meticulously study every single one of the present Archlords, especially Zaphkiel with keen eyes, as if he was searching for something. During that time, nobody dared to make any sudden sound, patiently waiting for Sonic to finish whatever it was he was doing. From one glance, Amy could detect a glint of skepticism in his eyes as they fell upon the advanced Zeti in the room, but she kept that opinion to herself.

Sonic's owlish eyes were scary and intense at first, but after a relatively long while had passed, the original shade of green returned to them, and his facial features were rid of the threatening scowl that he had been wearing. Much to the Archlords' relief, Sonic had finally calmed down and he was taking in everything rather well – or at least he seemed to be.

"I understand…" he muttered weakly, still trying to process the substantial amount of information that his allies had just given him. It was a bit much, he had to admit, and he was overwhelmed. "Thanks for telling me all this. I know it must have been torture for you to…you know, relive that day…"

"It's only fair that you know what you're getting into, Sonic" said Amy sadly, "And I'm really sorry you got involved in this mess…This isn't even your world, and yet…"

"Stop that, Ames. This may not be my world, but it is still a world in trouble, and I cannot just let that slide, no matter what!" he replied with conviction in his tone. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the Archlords except Zaphkiel either giggled or laughed, seemingly happy with that ridiculously simple logic.

"You're a really nosy hedgehog, Sonic, you know that?" said Knuckles light-heartedly, a small and extremely rare grin of genuine happiness on his face.

"Well, it certainly takes one to know one" retorted Sonic in the same fashion before turning to look at Eggman , "Do you mind getting these things off of me?" he moved his head toward the giant arms keeping him tied into the chair and shot the scientist a meaningful look.

With a shrug, the doctor did as told and recalled his limbs back to his side. All of the sudden, a light bulb went up in Sonic's head that got him curious.

"So, if Zavok can control all electronics with his thought, how come you two are immune?" he asked innocently.

"These cybernetic limbs are connected to our nervous systems, and that essentially makes them part of our own bodies" said Eggman with a smug look on his face, "The Zeti can control machines that have AI, or electronic brains, but these, old friend, are directly linked to our brains, so they are, as you say, 'immune' to Zavok's manipulation."

"Interesting!" Sonic mumbled thoughtfully, making Eggman sigh.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" asked the doctor as he smacked his face with his organic palm to fully express his annoyance.

"Nope" was all the cobalt hedgehog said in reply, a sly grin on his face.

"Typical" muttered Knuckles and Amy as they fondly shook their heads, happy that Sonic was taking in everything much better than they had first suspected despite the initial episode regarding Zik's sudden appearance and story.

…

"So, now that I know about the brief history of 'World War Z' already," said Sonic after a while, "What do we do from here?"

"That is where I come in" replied Master Zik calmly, attracting the young hero's attention once again. Sonic darted his eyes towards the old Zeti and narrowed them slightly, seemingly debating whether to trust him or not. With a sigh, Master Zik put his staff down and shook his head.

"I told you" he began, "You don't have to trust me, Sonic. Given our history, even I wouldn't trust myself."

"…I trust you," Sonic said all of the sudden, making everyone's heads snap toward him simultaneously. Needless to say, even the old Zeti, who was hardly impressed by anything due to his advanced age, was surprised by the sudden yet strong declaration.

"I trust you," Sonic repeated with finality in his voice, "You saved billions of people from their fates as mindless slaves to Zavok. And since my counterpart declared you our ally in his last moments, I'll honor his last wish."

"Is that it?" asked the old master skeptically.

"Hey" Sonic said with a frown, as if insulted, "I'm proud of my ability to tell who is good and who is not. And if my future self trusts you enough to make you into an Archlord, then so do I. Besides, if you had planned on doing something to backstab us, you would have tried it already, why wait fifteen long years? Your eyes spoke volumes back then."

In reply to that, Zavok could do nothing more than nod his head slightly and chuckle to himself.

"Okay" said Sonic again, his tone cheerful and eager to provide help in any way he could, "Where do we start?"

"To defeat Zavok, we must first cut off his most prized asset – Tenebrae" said the Zeti, "That is where we start, take down Tenebrae and cut off Zavok's influence over his robotic troops."

"How do you propose we do that?" asked Amy this time, now reverted back to her Archlord tone.

"I have a plan to subdue Tenebrae that I've been devising for quite some time now, but since the key ingredient was not available at that time, it was virtually impossible to carry out. But now, I suppose that plan is plausible" Master Zik said, his eyes travelling toward Sonic, who was a little stunned.

"Me?" the young hedgehog asked in surprise, pointing at himself.

"Yes, you are the key, Sonic" confirmed the old strategist as he pointed is staff at Sonic, further emphasizing his point.

"How?" asked Knuckles in confusion, "Last time, he got his butt handed to him, as well as the time before that."

"Geez, thanks for the confidence boost, Knux" Sonic said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes, "You're a real help."

"Face it, Sonic. Even when we combined our strength, we couldn't land a single hit on Tenebrae. What can you possibly do alone?"

"Yeah, what can he possibly do alone?" Amy repeated the question to Master Zik, causing Sonic to let out an annoyed "Hey!" at her, but she didn't bother to take notice.

"The thing is you can't outmaneuver Tenebrae" answered the wise being as he stroked his beard thoughtfully, "His reflexes have been trained to the max, making him extremely difficult to beat in combat. However, I don't plan on having Sonic fight against him with his fists."

"Then what do you have in mind?" asked Eggman with an interested look on his face.

"Sonic can't outmatch him" said the reformed Zeti slowly and dramatically, making the hedgehog in question frown in irritation at the thought of being put down by someone he had beaten before "But he can outrun him long enough to stay alive, and that is all I ask."

Silence. Unnerving silence as every eye in the room turned to Sonic, making him slightly uncomfortable. Immediately, he looked away and began to think, trying his best to ignore the spotlight that everyone was putting him in.

After a short while, the hedgehog looked up, his eyes bearing into each and every pair of eyes in the room. And with a confident smile and a trademark post, he spoke, his voice carrying no sign of doubt or uncertainty.

"Count me in!" was his response – one that everyone had half expected, but couldn't help but feel astonished to hear.

After all, everyone in that room knew very well. Despite the fact that Sonic could be heading face-first into the cold embrace of the callous reaper, he would never, ever turn his head around and back down from this fight – not until his only family was home by his side again.


	12. Chapter 12: Memories

**Oh my star, it seems like a family of plot bunnies decide to pay me a visit tonight. And to make matters worse, the daddy bunny decides to invite its distant friend Insomnia to come along. Great! Oh well, might as well finish this chapter and see if I can hit the hay afterwards. And there will be some references to my first story - "The Origin of the Unbreakable Bond" – in this chappie. **

**Well, I suppose we're halfway through the story already. After this interlude, things will be filled with some explosions and a lot of actions. **

**To answer Jakester's question: This story is set in the game universe, as with my other stories. Even though I love the Archie comics, I just don't know how to fit that many characters into my stories. Doing so will distract the readers from the two main characters that I put more focus on – Sonic and Tails. If the others appear in this story, they will be cameos. **

**In any case, I hope you enjoy this short chapter. Don't hesitate to leave a review or two if you find this chapter to your liking. If not, well, don't hesitate, either and give it to me straight.**

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Chapter 11:  
Memories

Carefully tracing his gloved fingers along the unknown and durable fabric of the suit that he had found a little while ago, Sonic couldn't help but feel a little bit strange – unnerved to be more specific if he cared to admit aloud - for various reasons. First of all, he was Sonic the hedgehog – a being who strived to live his life to the fullest and free of all restraints, which, to the all-natural speedster, also included clothes. Ever since he was small, he had never worn anything on his skin before, with the notable exceptions of his trademark sneakers and gloves, for clothes would only serve as nuisances that restricted his movements and mobility. Additionally, the mere thought of them suddenly bursting into flames from friction when he was moving too fast left the passionate runner shivering outwardly at times.

However, it was not the main reason why Sonic was currently a little bit freaked out of his wits at this very instance, when his eyes were currently fixed on the futuristic body armor he was clutching so carefully in his hands. He felt something strange about this particular item like he was supposed to know it, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The outfit was chiefly of a shade of navy blue with lighter blue circuitry running along the arms, forearms, fingers and along the legs. There was also a belt made of similar material around the waist, which seemed to be specifically designed to hold some kind of syringes or containers, but Sonic couldn't be entirely certain.

Immediately after Master Zik had announced the end to the strategic gathering so that he and Eggman might be left alone to plan their next moves, Amy had asked Sonic to join her on a brief tour around the base, a request he accepted. Currently, the hedgehog was inside the last location of his visit – a small room that had an oddly out-of-place wooden sign with the huge and messy 'No Entry' words written on its surface hung on the door.

Sonic was about to asked why Amy had taken him here, but she simply said "Please wait inside for me. I have some calls I need to make first. And feel free to take a look around while you wait" after tenderly taking off the handmade sign from its place and granting the cobalt hero entrance.

It was a relatively small room, but it seemed very comfortable for someone with his body structure or smaller. However, it was clear that this room had not been used for quite some time, for the bed looked like it hadn't been slept in for years – and in reality, it hadn't been. And the same could be said about other things in the seemingly abandoned chamber. He then spotted the curious body armor neatly folded on top of the bed, and picked it up to examine it. After a while, he gently returned the garment to its original position and manner in which it had been found.

Darting his green eyes around the place, Sonic couldn't help but be attracted by a small frame situated on top of a nearby desk, which was currently face-down against the surface of said desk. What drew his attention toward this particular object was the fact that the picture frame was uniquely the only thing to be made out of wood, while everything else in the chamber was made of metal and other future materials that Amy had introduced him to and whose name he couldn't even pronounce, much less remember. In addition, Sonic, at first glance, could tell that it was really old, and that whoever had been its owner must have cherished it greatly.

Slowly and curiously picking the outstanding picture frame up, the hedgehog took a look at the picture behind the glass, and his eyes widened immediately, stunned by the image that entered his vision.

Inside was the photo of two young beings, much younger than he was. The bigger of the two was standing in the middle of the photo flashing a thumb-up and a cocky grin toward the camera. And by his side, a small and sheepish kid with radiant orange fur was held firmly in place by a peach arm around his shoulder. Both of the younger child's hands were put behind his back in a shy and slightly subdued manner, but the kind and inviting yet somewhat awkward smile he showed toward the camera clearly depicted how utterly happy and content he was. At the kid's foot, a small robotic fox stood with his tongue stuck out, staring intently at the camera. Also, in the background behind the young duo stood an old biplane painted in a coat of red, its body shimmering proudly and majestically under the bright sunlight. The children's delightful moment of happiness was forever captured in time and placed behind the protective glass of the old wooden frame.

And the stunning part was that Sonic had been the one to capture that memorable moment back then. It was he who had suggested the photo be taken to celebrate their first meeting – his meeting with Tails right after putting a stop to Eggman's diabolical schemes on Westside Island. Suddenly, a wave of nostalgia hit the cobalt hedgehog, and the images of that day resurfaced from his memories. Even though much time had passed since that fateful day, the memories were still fresh in his mind.

…

"_Hey Tails!" said the chubbier version of himself as he waved excitedly to capture the young fox's attention, a small camera tightly held in his other hand._

"_Yes? What is it, Sonic?"_ _the kid replied while holding T-pup in his hands, and Sonic remembered his head tilting a little from childlike curiosity._ That image made him smile a nostalgic little.

"_Want to take a picture with me? We can treat this day as the anniversary of our meeting. It'll be awesome!" exclaimed the chubby speedster as his hands swung wildly in the air, unable to keep his emotions in check._

"…_Wha…What?" Sonic remembered hearing Tails stammer in disbelief_, his innocent baby blue eyes the size of saucers as they regarded the camera like it was of alien origin. "You…you want to take a picture of us? As in…us? Together?" he continued, gesturing to the blue hedgehog and himself chronologically.

"Yeah, it'll be fun, Tails. One day we can look back on this day and have a good laugh about it."

"_I…I don't know, Sonic" the kid replied sheepishly, seemingly sacred of the idea itself, and it made the wide smile on the hedgehog's face falter somewhat. However, the smile persistently remained on his cocky mug._

"_Any particular reason why you don't want to do this, kiddo?"_

"_It's just that…Well, as you already know, I'm not exactly well-liked by others" the young fox began as he directed his gaze towards his feet, which had self-consciously begun to draw circles on the sand, "So if anyone sees that picture of you…with little oddball me by your side, well…it may…will cause trouble for you, and I don't want to cause you any more trouble than I already have."_

"_Oh, kiddo…" _Sonic remembered sighing audibly and shaking his head in disbelief when he first heard Tails uttered those self-depreciating words. It had broken his heart back then, and it still did at present.

"_Come here, Tails"_ he remembered asking in the gentlest tone he could manage, and watching as the shy, mentally scarred and socially awkward kid precariously trudged toward him, twin tails tightly grasped in his tiny palms in a self-conscious fashion.

"_Look, little fellah, I don't care what other people say about you and your tails, honestly, I don't. If they can't see how wonderful you are both inside and outside, then they don't have the right to even look at you. Don't take their their meaningless words to heart. You are beyond the things that they pin on you, Tails."_

"_But, Sonic, I don't want people to dislike you just because of me…"_

"_If they do, let them do as they please while we get on with our lives. I don't need people that don't even know either you or me to tell me who I can and can't hang out with. If I had to choose between being surrounded by a bazillions of my fans and being around you, I'd take the latter every single time."_

"_Are you serious?" the young fox looked up and stared directly into the young hedgehog's eyes, his own beaming with hope and thrill._

"_I'm serious, Tails. Even if everyone in the world denies you, I will never be one of them. I promise" Sonic remembered saying that with determination and finality in his voice, and instantly, the kid lunged toward him and tackled him to the ground, gleefully shouting a series of "Thank you" at the top of his lungs. _

"_You're welcome, kiddo. Now then, what do you say we take a picture together?" said the older of the two as he waved the camera in the air playfully, a large grin plastered on his face._

"_Yes!" came the joyous reply in an instant._

After that, the picture was taken, and it was the first of the many that Sonic had in his possession. As time passed, his private albums grew in number and size, but to him, that first photo would always have an undisputed place in his heart.

…

Carefully placing the wooden frame back to its position, Sonic couldn't help but chuckle softly to himself. Memories of that fateful meeting on Westside Island came back to him in stream - from how he had found the young and injured fox lying on the ground with T-pup by his side, how he had been confused to the point of running away from him to how he had fixed up the Tornado as a surprise for him and subsequently joined him on his adventures. How nostalgic indeed!

But then, realization dawned on Sonic, and the loving smile on his face slowly fell and ultimately turned into a frown. Looking at the single picture inside the lonely chamber, Sonic immediately realized where he was, and by extension, whose room he was in.

"I take it you've already found the photo, right?" said a kind voice of Amy Rose after she had tapped her knuckle lightly on the door to gain the hedgehog's attention. In return, Sonic turned around to face her and nodded wordlessly.

"So…This room…" he began, but was unable to finish.

"Yes, it is" she replied instantly, already knowing what her younger friend would say. In an instant, she moved across the room and gently picked up the neatly folded suit Sonic had regarded earlier and held it in her hands tenderly. "It used to be our Sonic's room" she continued softly.

"That photo used to be his most cherished possession when he was alive, you know" Amy began after a moment of silence, her eyes studying the object with a mixture of fondness and sadness.

"…I know" replied Sonic quietly. In his mind, he could pretty much picture what his counterpart did when he was alone in this room. He would reach this desk and pick up the picture to find shelter from the cold harsh reality in the sweet memories of the long distant past. He would sit down again with the picture tightly grasped in his hands, silently reminiscing the days he had spent playing around and hanging out with the precious baby brother of his.

How Sonic knew this? Simple. He knew himself very well, especially when the situation had something to do with his beloved family – his beloved Tails.

Taking another look at the picture, which was now standing proudly on the desk, Sonic let out an audible sigh and put the glass against the surface once more, returning it to its original position.

"Is that also his? Sariel's?" asked Sonic in a hushed tone as he directed his dejected gaze toward the suit Amy's hands. In response, she nodded and slowly approached the cobalt speedster.

"It was his Archlord outfit" she began as she presented the suit to Sonic, "He always wore this every time he walked out to the battlefield…So I suppose, it's only fitting that I let you have this, Sonic."

"Amy, I just can't take something that important. It's fine! I can go out like this just fine. There is no need for me to don an armor. Besides, I don't particularly like to suit up" he had meant the last line to be a jest, but somehow, it came out sad. Yes, he didn't like to suit up, but his counterpart did…How drastic had Sonic changed into Archlord Sariel to get away from his past, anyway? He didn't know, nor did he really desire an answer.

"No, Sonic. I believe that this suit is yours and rightfully yours to wear" Amy replied kindly with a sad smile, "I'm sure he'll be glad to have you wear it, and give this armor a renewed purpose."

At that moment, another memory about Tails resurfaced in his mind. It was about the time the young genius had forcibly dismantled his own submarine in order to fix the Tornado, and when asked about it, he had answered in the same manner as Amy – to give their treasures a new purpose.

With a humorless chuckle and a shake of his head, Sonic looked at the suit in front of him for a while longer before accepting it, much to the female Archlord's joy.

Holding the high-tech body armor in his hands, Sonic let out another sad sigh before putting it in. Even though the suit used to belong to his counterpart, who was much older than him, it seemed to fit his body nicely. In addition, the armor, despite its tight appearance, still allowed him great mobility and flexibility to move around as he normally did.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Amy standing solemnly and silently looking at him, her emerald eyes shimmering with unshed tears threatening to fall anytime soon. It wasn't Sonic she was looking at; rather, it was her Archlord Sariel – alive and active. It was too much for her mind to bear, and Sonic could tell that without even asking, but he chose to say nothing.

"So…How do I look? I think it doesn't fit me as well as it should" the blue speedster asked with a forced grin on his face, discreetly trying to remind her of the fact that he was a different Sonic – a separate entity from a separate dimension and timeline. And Amy caught on to the subtle hints almost immediately.

With a kind yet sad smile, the grown woman answered, her voice soft.

"I think it fits you just fine, Sonic. It's a one-size-fits-all kind of suit, I believe. Oh, and before I forget , here you go."

Amy then reached to her belt, pulled out about a dozen of small containers and gave them to Sonic.

"These are Chaos Drives that Eggman managed to synthesize based on his grandfather's journal. They help power up your battle suit, and give you access to limited Chaos Control capabilities. Just put them in your belt."

She then handed the items to Sonic, who wordlessly accepted the tokens and did as instructed. The moment he inserted the last one to his belt, the circuitry of his suit lit up brightly before returning to normal.

"Man, this is some high-tech stuff you have here Ames" said Sonic with a smile, a gesture she returned with one of her own. However, that smile faded as soon as it appeared.

"Sariel designed that suit himself" she whispered, her voice barely loud enough for the cobalt hedgehog to hear. And instantly, his eyes shot up again as he whipped his head around.

"What?" he exclaimed, unable to believe that his future self was the designer of this suit. After all, he knew net to nothing when it came to technology.

"…That was how he coped with the situation. Like what I said I pick up after Rouge's…I suppose you can figure out the rest."

Sonic nodded solemnly, understanding clearly without further elaboration. His counterpart – Archlord Sariel – tried to keep his sanity and his memories of the old Tails alive by dabbling in the stuff the fox was interested in. At that realization, all Sonic could do was let out another sigh.

"Please, Sonic…" said Amy all of the sudden as she took Sonic's hands in hers, her eyes bearing directly into Sonic's emerald orbs. "Please help us get Tails back…that is all he's ever wanted, to have his only family back to his real self again."

"…Don't worry, Ames" said Sonic after a brief moment of silence, his eyes sparkling with renewed determination, "You don't have to ask that. I will bring Tails back to who he really is without fail! I swear it."

"Thank you, Sonic" said Amy quietly as she shot him a smile. Though it wasn't a bright or big smile, it was genuine.

"Don't mention it, Ames. It's what I do."

"Yeah…Could you perhaps…leave me here alone for a while?" Amy asked as she looked at Sonic dead in the eyes again. In reply, he simply nodded before walking out of the late Archlord's room. After one last glance at Amy and the facedown picture frame on the desk, Sonic turned around and gently closed the door, leaving the emotional woman behind as she had requested.

When he was about to walk away, his sensitive ears could faintly pick up the familiar and heart-wrenching melody of _Bésame Mucho_ being hummed on the other side of the closed door. After listening to the beautiful yet anguished voice of the lonely woman soaring through the notes of the nostalgic song, Sonic turned away and kept on walking, leaving Amy to her heartfelt emotions. After all, no words he could say could ever be enough to touch the pain Amy must have been feeling at the moment, much less soothe it.

Really, what could he say to help relieve Amy of her loss?

…

After a long while of walking at an unusually slow pace, Sonic's eyes spotted the lone figure of Knuckles leaning against the wall a little distance ahead, his organic hand gripping his mechanical one in a death grip. He could tell the former guardian was trying to suppress a grimace, but his effort was for naught.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, the forlorn echidna slowly turned his head toward the source and spotted Sonic walking toward him, fully suited in his late comrade's high-tech armor. In an instant, the pained expression disappeared completely from his face, replaced by a neutral and calm one.

"…Are you ready?" he asked after silently studying the hedgehog before him for a while, making the cobalt hedgehog somewhat uncomfortable. Sonic, however, said nothing and just nodded his head and flashed Knuckles a thumb-up and a tiny grin that didn't go up to his eyes.

"I see…Where's Ariel?" the echidna asked again. Sonic was about to answer him, but a voice from behind beat him to the punch.

"I'm here" replied Amy neutrally as she approached her friends, fully dressed in her Archlord outfit, complete with the helmet that shrouded her facial features. "Let's go."

Sonic and Knuckles only nodded briefly in consensus before the trio made their way toward the control chamber where the other two Archlords were located, ready to get the mission started.

"Let's do this!"

…


	13. Chapter 13: Invasion

**I am very sorry for the sudden absence, everyone. My stupid laptop decided to "_take a break_" and...well, I'm sure you can figure out the rest. Anyway, I'm back with an extra long chapter filled with actions and thrills for everyone to read. I sincerely hope that you will find it to your liking. **

**Warning: when I say long, I mean it, so make yourselves comfortable before you engage this chapter. Hope you like it, and don't forget to drop a few line if you have anything you want to say. :)**

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Chapter 12:  
Invasion

Along the dimly lit and eerily quiet corridor of the fortress, Tenebrae walked quietly as if he were a shadow without form, his posture firm and confident like the warrior he was molded into. The shadowy soldier continued to head along the eerily silent path until the sight of the familiar gate entered his vision.

Going through the usual protocols to get the reinforced gate to open, Tenebrae quickly entered the chamber and immediately kneeled down before the lone silhouette sitting at a high throne before him, his head bowed in a respectful manner in his lord's presence.

"Master Zavok," he began, his voice even and monotonous as usual, "May I have permission to speak?"

"Speak!" replied the mighty Zeti as his intense gaze bore down on his most powerful and reliable subordinate. To be stared down by such a gaze would have been a traumatic experience for anyone in this current situation, but Tenebrae was completely unfazed, for fear, as well as other emotions known to man, had already been erased from his very being. He was, in essence, a shell that only lived to carry out orders.

"There have been reports coming from Sectors 7, 8 and 9 regarding the sightings of Sonic the hedgehog and two other Archlords. Our connections with the troops stationed there were immediately terminated afterwards. It seems the enemies are headed this way at a very fast pace, and are expected to arrive within the next ten minutes."

"I see…Any particular reason why they would be foolish enough to walk into their own funerals?" asked the tyrant in an even tone, unimpressed with what he was hearing.

"Apparently there is, master. I have just managed to intercept and replicate the content of an incoming transmission from the enemy's HQ. Though unable to pinpoint the exact location from which it originated, I was able to decipher its encrypted content."

"What is it about?"

"It seems that the enemies are rallying their elite troops from around the world to prepare for a series of simultaneous and coordinated attacks on our fortresses, with this location being the prime target" the swordsman replied. "They plan on waging an all-out war with us. The method with which they plan on initiating the war, however, was not mentioned in the message, so I hypothesize that it was sent separately."

"Without considering the amount of power I now hold or how many robots we have in our arsenals? Hmm, either my old master is confident in his abilities as a strategist and the abilities of his men or he's grown to be suicidal during the last fifteen years" Zavok said pensively, his eyes never leaving his most dangerous puppet, "But we can't be too careful. Never mind the other bases, exactly how many are coming here?"

"Not so many, for most of their common foot soldiers will focus on the raids on our other bases. However, all of those who come here will be high-profile and highly dangerous fighters such as the Archlords, their lieutenants and even the Supreme Archlords. And of course, Sonic the hedgehog will be among them."

"Hmm, I see. Hah, they think they actually stand a fighting chance against me now that they have Sonic on their side again. What stupidity!" said Zavok before he burst out laughing maniacally, the sound of his diabolical laughter filling and echoing throughout the entire chamber, making it a thousand times worse than it already was. "…How goes the preparation?" he continued once the laughter had subsided.

"I have already taken the necessary precautions to counter them. I have appointed all of the reprogrammed Egg Emperors and other powerful models to defend all of our bases around the world. In addition, most of our strongest robots have been summoned here, including the Wyverns and some Emperors. If they really come, we will be ready for them."

"Good, let them come. I will show them the extent of power I now have" Zavok said with absolute confidence before he burst out laughing again. Behind his throne, seven lights shone brightly, which pierced through the tranquil veil of darkness surrounding the chamber. "If they are lucky, I may even allow them a few more seconds to beg for mercy before I squeeze the life out of them…especially Sonic."

"Also, master, regarding the conversion of our captive…" Tenebrae began again, only to be cut off by the tyrant himself.

"Ah, yes. I trust that he's already been conformed to our will, then?"

"Unfortunately, the process is still in progress. His unique genetic makeup makes him virtually immune to any form or method of mind control on Earth. Therefore, we are facing some problems regarding the readjustments of his chip to produce the same mind control wavelengths as his alien creator."

"And how is it coming along?'

"Currently, we are 70% through with the process, and it is estimated to be complete within the next six to eight hours, depending on his resistance to our…persuasions."

"I see, after more than a decade, he persists…truly a fine specimen – perfect as my next enforcer. Use any means necessary to break him" said Zavok wit finality in his tone, "Make sure he serves me in the end. Am I clear?"

"Like a whistle" replied the unfeeling assailant with another respectful bow.

"Good! Now go and perform your duties, Tenebrae. I expect good news from you later."

With a silent nod of acknowledgement, the warrior in black stood up and walked out, ready to perform the tasks that he was charged with – the destruction of the Agents and the death of Sonic the hedgehog.

…

Meanwhile, outside the city:

Standing in the safe zone provided by the shadows of the ruins, Sonic, Amy and Knuckles watched in silence as countless robots patrol the area around the fortress. Quickly pulling back into the safety of darkness when a few giant machines passed by, the scythe-wielding Archlord put away her scopes and let out a sigh of relief, happy that they were still safe for the time being.

"As expected" she said, "the number of robots here has increased exponentially since the last time we conducted a reconnaissance. They are wary of Sonic's return after all. There are all kinds of killer robots there, big ones, too."

"Three different sections occupied and protected by different kinds robots, all of them lethal. Aside from the usual bunch, first area is guarded by a horde of Egg Cerberuses, second area by Egg Hammers and Emperors, last area by a bunch of Egg Vipers…I know Tenebrae is paranoid, but this is a little bit too much. It's like they are expecting us or something" said Knuckles as he studied the enemies in front of him with his signature scowl plastered on his face.

"Maybe they are…" muttered Amy, earning a confused look from both of her partners. "Have you forgotten what Tai…Tenebrae is capable of? I wouldn't be surprised if he had intercepted our transmissions without us knowing and planned for this beforehand" she added quickly, never daring to look at Sonic at the mention of his friend's wonderful talents being used for the worst possible evil.

With a low and inaudible growl of anger, Sonic, whose eyes had darkened somewhat from the horrid thoughts alone, promptly turned away from his friend and back to the sight of the menacing fortress ahead. He carefully took another look at the gathering robots again, trying to stay focused on the task at hand. _'Tails' fate depended chiefly on his success'_ a voice inside his head reminded himself.

"They even have the Egg Geneses and Egg Wyverns patrolling the sky huh? Yikes, how many of them are there exactly? With the Wyverns, those oversized viper-impersonating worms are the least of our concern" said Sonic as he studied the hovering mechs in the sky.

"You know of them?" asked Knuckles, surprised that his cobalt comrade could recognize the present models, "Funny! I don't remember fighting against any of those guys during your time, and from what we've learnt so far, our worlds' events coincide perfectly with one another."

"…I don't really know…I just have this strange feeling that I know them from somewhere…or at some point in the past…" replied Sonic in a tone that indicated that he himself was tremendously surprised by his knowledge of said robots, "…Maybe I saw their designs in one of Eggman's bases before, my Eggman by the way."

"Guys, focus here!" hissed Amy warningly, her scythe ready in hand, "We can discuss that topic later, now, just lay low and stick to the plan."

"Speaking of Zik's plan, when will your army arrive?" asked the speedster impatiently.

"Not all of our troops will come here, you know, just some of the most powerful and trusted Archlords and lieutenants that I personally selected. Just wait for the signal to strike, Sonic."

"Shh, hide, here comes Tenebrae!" hissed Knuckles.

In an instant, the trio hid themselves within the safe shadows to avoid being detected by the highly-skilled henchman of Zavok. As usual, the shadowy swordsman exercised extreme caution as he went out to the field to check and give orders to the mechanical creatures.

From where he was, Sonic dared to take a peek at the only organic being amidst the horde of mechanical beasts. And in the instance his eyes fell upon the figure, the hedgehog's eyes narrowed dangerously, his normally clear irises burning brightly with anger for Zavok as well as with renewed determination to free his poor family from this fate.

'_Just wait for me, Tails, I'll get you back, I promise,_' he silently vowed, his eyes never leaving the shadowy swordsman even as the figure retreated back inside the heavily armed fortress.

"Okay, they should be here any moment now" said Amy as she watched her timer count down. "And three, two, one…"

At the final count left her mouth, two large missiles were seen from the horizon as they quickly made their ways toward the structure. One of the missiles zoomed in and directly hit the airborne Egg machines, and as a result, the explosion it generated took out all of the Genesis models in an instant. The Wyverns, being the more intelligent and mobile of the two aerial fighter types however, were able to avoid instant destruction by swiftly swooping down just moments before impact.

The other missile landed safely right inside the first layer of the enemies' base. Unlike the first, however, it showed no sign of exploding any soon.

"Not exactly like we planned, huh?" asked Sonic nonchalantly as he looked at the disappointing result of a seemingly failed attempt at ambush. Save for the destruction of giant fortress-like searchers, the ground enemies were perfectly unharmed from the generated shockwave.

"No. But that doesn't matter much. We didn't exactly put much faith in that oversized fireworks cracker anyway." replied the red-clad Archlord with a confident smirk as he readied his new set of claws, "The real fun is hidden inside the other one."

After that, the trio hid themselves in the shadows again, watching silently as the mechanical hounds of the first sector precariously gathered around the seemingly malfunctioned missile with their flamethrowers ready to fire.

"Operation Jack in the box is a go. Move out!" Archlord Ariel said quietly into her communicator in an authoritative tone. From the other end, a youthful voice seemingly belonging to a young girl responded almost immediately in a simple, "Roger!"

At that moment, the body of the inactive missile opened up and released a thick smoke screen, eclipsing the entire area darkness and forcing the alert hounds to jump back. The screen soon covered most of the first area and within it, countless flashes of light repeatedly flared up, and multiple deafening explosions soon followed.

"That's our cue!" said the female Archlord as she and the other two jumped out of hiding and entered the fray. With that, the war officially began.

…

In the midst of the ensuing war, several figures were doing a wonderful job at destroying the enemies' robots despite being severely outnumbered both in terms of strength and in terms of technology. As time passed, several silhouettes were seen heading deeper into the fortress, while one remained outside the landing field to continue fighting against the Cerberuses. From what he had heard, Sonic knew that they were allies, all of whom were all high-ranking officers; and from what he was witnessing at the moment, all of them possessed lethal skills.

The individual that stayed was, as Sonic could see after the smoke had disappeared, a small girl with slender build and long ears. At the moment, she was being surrounded and heavily outnumbered by a bunch of Cerberuses and modified Pawns, all of which were armed with various fire-based weapons. Floating beside her was a small, blue Chao holding a pair of laser guns specifically built for him.

Curiously, instead of being nervous and shaking like any average person trapped in this predicament, the young girl and her small companion were amazingly unfazed, their faces completely neutral and at ease. In the middle of the deadly and explosive warzone, the petit creature danced gracefully around the multiple explosions and incoming projectiles, her body skillfully and quite mesmerizingly dodging everything that was headed her way with absolute ease – skills that seemed to have taken years of practice to perfect. It was truly a breathtaking sight to behold, and admittedly, Sonic was tremendously impressed by the sheer grace the petit girl possessed in the midst of an ensuing war.

"Bad dogs!" the warrior said loudly to the mechanical hounds around her as she quickly pulled out a golden rod equipped with countless sharp spikes on its surface, "Time to put leashes on all of you."

With her peace said, she swiftly, yet still gracefully, swung the golden rod with all her strength her slender build would allow, and amazingly, the weapon extended substantially in length and effectively turned into a dangerous whip with spikes littered along its blade. Her tiny masterfully hand controlled the intricate patterns and motions of her weapon with so much skill and precision that with each movement she performed, a hound's leg was instantly and cleanly cut off from its body, forcing the gigantic canine down to its knee and shut down afterward when a subsequent strike slashed its head.

Not stopping there just yet, the young fighter once again moved the whip in a circular motion around her being, and at that moment, all of its spikes shot out in all directions and took the forms of mini rockets, which instantly zoomed in and incinerated everything they came into contact with.

The resulting explosions literally shook the entire battlefield as if an atomic bomb had landed on the sight, forcing the Pawns and the remaining Cerberuses to stand back to avoid the same fate as their comrades.

Her tiny partner, at the same time, was performing equally admirably, shooting down anything and everything mechanical that he could spot with fierce determination and amazing accuracy.

"I would normally offer you a hand, but it seems you have everything covered here…quite perfectly I might add," said the newly arrived Archlord Ariel to the graceful young girl, causing the latter to giggle a little in amusement and unmistakable pride.

"Sorry, miss Amy, but I'm not that little girl that needs to be looked after every five seconds anymore" she said with a radiant smile on her face – a great contrast to the gloomy and ashen atmosphere of the battlefield. And her smile became even brighter the moment she laid eyes on the cobalt hedgehog next to her superior. "Oh, and it's nice to see you again, mister Sonic. We've missed you, or…well, you know what I mean."

"Yeah," said the hedgehog sheepishly as he carefully regarded the weapon she was holding, making sure that he was clear out of its way, "Nice to see you, too…Cream" he added and instantly, the smaller rabbit looked away in a shy manner, but Sonic could see a few stray tears leaking out from the corner of her eye as she did. They instantly disappeared when she turned around again, replaced by a happy smile again.

"I must say, though, you were awesome back there. Sorry, so were you Cheese" he added the last part quickly when the Chao zoomed in close to the hedgehog's face, his guns pointed upward, and gave him an adorable pouty face, complete with a few stray tears running down his cheeks.

"Of course she is, silly…I mean they are" replied Amy, and she instantly changed her words when the destructive pouty face was directed at her this time. Out of the corner of his eyes, she saw the smaller rabbit's bashful blush at the hedgehog's compliment, prompting her to continue "They are my lieutenants after all, whom I personally trained I might add."

"Yes, and there is a reason everyone calls me _'Whip Cream'_, you know" the cream rabbit continued shortly before she continued unloading the highly explosive spikes on the enemies ahead, forcing them to either fall back or stay put. One again, Sonic was beyond impressed with this future version of Cream. He had to admit, the small girl was like a proud and blooming Rose – beautiful, mesmerizing in its glory, yet utterly deadly with its sharp thorns.

"Right, nice title…Scarily fitting one, too" was all Sonic could say as he took a subtle and careful step closer to Amy to avoid being grazed by that nasty weapon. His sheepish reaction toward her younger charge amused Amy and made her let out a soft giggle of her own, much to the cobalt hero's annoyance.

"Anyway, you should move on and play your parts in this war. I'll try my best to keep these guys at bay" the rabbit said, her eyes never leaving her opponents, who were lunging toward her in waves. Like earlier, however, the rabbit remain calm and completely unconcerned.

'_And I though rabbits are always nervous for some reasons,'_ Sonic thought with some amusement, a smile suddenly found its way on his muzzle.

"She's right, Sonic, let's go," said Knuckles this time as he threw the deactivated body of a Cerberus ahead, destroying the Pawns and Knights on the way and clearing a path toward the fortress. As the trio continued to move toward the next area, Cream and Cheese stayed close to them and shot down any robot brave enough to approach.

"Thanks, Cream, I owe you one" said Sonic as he, Amy and Knuckles moved on to the next area, leaving the young but highly capable girl and her Chao partner behind to deal with another horde of enemies.

"Please save him, mister Sonic…" the whip master whispered after the disappearing forms of the trio, a hopeful expression plastered on her face. After that brief moment of sentiment, she immediately turned around and stood her ground before the approaching hounds, her deadly whip grasped tightly ready in hands.

"Alright, doggies" she said confidently and performed a warning swing of her weapon, "Let's see if you can sit and roll over properly!"

After that, the sound of her whip tore through the air and slashed through the metal bodies of the enemies, and multiple explosions were subsequently heard coming from the same direction.

…

"So…'Whip Cream', huh?" muttered Sonic, his face wearing an expression that was a mix of a thoughtful frown and an amused smirk, "That's a…fitting name…Gives me a strange craving, though…"

"She picked it herself, so don't argue, Blue" replied the scythe master with a chuckle, "That is unless you want to see her wild side. And trust me, you do not, and I stress do not, want to see that."

"…I'm good, thanks. It's hard to believe that she is the same person as the little shy and polite girl from my world, that's all."

"…Fifteen years is a long time, Sonic…and tragedies can drastically change people…All of us lost people whom we care about, and she was no exception…" replied the Archlord in red as he followed closely behind, eyes darting continually from side to side to spot and potentially counter all incoming threats.

"…I see…" was all the cobalt speedster said as realization dawned on him. After all, Cream only had a handful of persons in her life that she loved and cared about more than other people. Not wanting to go into further details, Sonic simply stopped speaking and continued running toward his destination, quickly tearing down any robot that dared to obstruct his advance with a quick and precise Homing Attack.

…

The trio continued to make steady progress toward the heavily armed fortress ahead. Unfortunately, all good times came to pass when they were forced to come to a sudden halt halfway through the second area.

Out of nowhere, an army of Heavy Egg Hammers and Knights led by an Egg Emperor emerged and stopped them in their track. The menacing Emperor then pointed its lethal lance toward the trio, ordering the hammer-wielding giants to destroy them.

Using their superb acrobatics and well-honed agility, the trio easily avoided all of the incoming swings and hits without much trouble and retaliated. Their attacks were made to be as brief and precise as possible, aimed directly at the enemies' weaknesses so as to conserve as much energy as they could. After all, they still had a high-profile target to subdue – one that would require them to be at their top shape just to stand a potential fighting chance against.

"This is getting really annoying!" complained Knuckles with a growl as he grabbed an incoming hammer, snatched it from the hands of the robot, and began to swing wildly in hope of opening an escape route. To his dismay, however, more and more giants appeared to block his path. And to make matters worse, the Emperor had finally decided to enter the fray as well by unleashing a barrage of potent energy slashes with its lance at the heroes.

"It seems we have no choice but to go all-out here" the echidna continued after a performing a heavy slam on a nearby hammer wielder, making it collide with the others and destroying them in an instant.

"No," said Amy immediately as she dodged a swing and decapacitated a robot with her scythe with deadly precision, "You know we can't. We need to conserve as much strength as possible if we are going to stand a fighting chance against Tenebrae."

"You have a better suggestion? Because I can really use one right about now, Ames" shouted Sonic in annoyance in reply as he consecutively knocked the heads off the robots, trying his best to keep the fights as short as he could.

"Take down the Emperor! They should be clueless without the commander."

"Yeah, right, take down the Emperor" repeated Knuckles in an irritated and sarcastic manner, "Easier said than done, woman! That thing is stronger than all of these bozos combined, and that's saying something…"

At that moment, his communicator suddenly vibrated, prompting him to temporarily ignore the incoming horde of Knights and take it out. After reading through the brief message on the screen, the echidna's eyes widened behind his shades, his face now an expression of thrill and surprise.

"What? You've got to be kidding me…You two, get away from that Emperor this instant!" he shouted to his comrades, who complied immediately despite the vague nature of the order.

The Egg Emperor was about to release another wave of slashes with its lance, but it stopped short when a large shadow was cast over its head, forcing it to direct its eyes skyward. At that exact moment, a large figure dropped down on its head - the force of the impact knocked the surrounding Hammers off balance - and grabbed its face with his gloved hands, wrestling the head out of its joint.

After an epic struggle in an attempt to shake the newcomer off, the Egg Emperor had no choice but to yield when its central control system was yanked right off, effectively shutting it down immediately afterward.

"Am I late for the party?" said a voice belonging to a confident grown woman, who was currently standing on the shoulder of a large purple cat that had just knocked out the Emperor in one strike.

"Actually, you're right on time, Shade. Well, not exactly, but I suppose you are fashionably late" replied Amy happily as she looked at the newly arrived duo. They were indeed a sight for sore eyes for the troubled trio.

On top of the destroyed Emperor, Big the cat and Shade the echidna stood proudly amidst the chaos of the raging battlefield, unfazed by the surrounding robots.

"Give us a quicker warning next time, will you!" yelled Knuckles as he slammed another Hammer into the other robots, "You could have crushed us there."

"Sorry, boss," replied the female echidna with a sarcastic smile on her face, "But no harm done, right? And I just saved your hide back then. A simple thank you would have sufficed."

"Man, you really are a sight for sore eyes, Shade" chimed in Sonic with a happy tone much like Amy's as he looked at the familiar yet more mature face of the former commander of the Nocturnus. "Thanks a ton for the assist."

"Nice to see you as well…Sonic" the female echidna replied with a fond yet sad smile on her feature, "I would love to exchange pleasantries and stories, but this is neither the time nor place" she continued briefly before repeatedly warping around via her warp belt and consecutively beheading more than a dozen of the approaching Hammers in one swift motion. The echidna warrior truly lived up to her reputation. Ultimately, she appeared right in front of Sonic and used her grenades to clear a path forward.

"Move on" the female echidna said authoritatively without even glancing at the speedster and his comrades, her trained eyes solely fixed on the Hammers and Knights that had been blown sideway by her deadly explosives. "I will deal with these drones."

With that, she activated her signature leech blade – a weapon with which she had great proficiency - and got ready to cut all of them down to size.

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own here?"

"I'll be fine. Besides, I have help – _BIG_ help. He may not be the sharpest pair in the drawer, but he does qualify as an ideal partner for me."

"Thanks, Shade. I owe you one."

"Yeah, that means now we are even. Get going, Sonic! And remember to look out for my hardheaded Archlord out there. The idiot never thinks before he acts."

With a nod, Sonic immediately ran past her and sped off, followed by Knuckles and Amy a second later. The trio ran along the newly open path and soon disappeared from sight, leaving Shade and Big behind to deal with the surviving robots.

"Alright then," she muttered with a confident smirk on her as she took her stance in front of the machines to halt their advance and silently studied the opponents with undivided attention. Behind her, Big cracked his knuckles in an intimidating manner (but due to his perpetually blank face, he didn't exactly appear scary at all) and got ready to pummel anything that dared to approach them. "Let's wrap this up, shall we, big guy?"

The answer she received was the deafening sound of explosion resulted from the destroyed Emperor colliding directly with the Hammers.

…

"I still can't believe you actually have Shade on your side" exclaimed Sonic, unable to contain his excitement, as he continued to run past a horde of robots and toward the fortress at a steady pace, followed closely by Knuckles and Amy a little distance behind. "I know we met on the screen back at the base, but still...I'm surprised."

"She has a bone to pick with Zavok for sending an army into the Twilight Cage and harming her people" replied Knuckles briefly.

"I thought Zavok failed that time."

"Doesn't mean there wasn't any casualty…" said the echidna with a low tone, making Sonic close his mouth almost instantly. Even though the powerhouse echidna was of a different clan, he saw the Nocturnus as his people as well, and the thought of anyone harming them got him on edge – Nobody messed with his people and got away safely with it. '_This future world is seriously messed up'_ he thought bitterly, trying his best to suppress the growing anger inside of him.

"But I'm curious" said Sonic again as a thought came into his mind, "Why is she your lieutenant, Knucklehead? With her skills, shouldn't she be, I don't know, higher in rank?"

"Geez, I wonder why as well, Knux?" Amy chimed in with a teasing tone that suggested that she was smiling a very sly smile underneath her helmet. In response, the Archlord in red turned his head away and ignored the question. However, Sonic could have sworn that his peach muzzle had become one with his red armor, seemingly disappearing from sight completely.

"…Oh…_Oh_!" exclaimed the hedgehog as another sly smirk crossed his face, "Ohoho…I see…Well, ain't that a kick in the head."

"One more word and I'll knock your teeth out, got it?" the Archlord in red threatened with his cybernetic claw raised to emphasize his point. Sonic and Amy simply nodded their heads like mischievous children pretending to be obedient before turning their attention back on the road, trying to suppress a hearty bout of giggles at the expression on their friend's face.

After that, the trio sped up again, making their way toward the fortress, which had become visibly clearer in sight.

…

It was only a matter of time before Sonic and his two trusted comrades burst into the third and final layer of defense of Zavok's fortress. However, what they saw made them halt almost instantly.

The final area was filled with what could be described as nightmarish for the newly arrived trio. On the ground, multiple reprogrammed Egg Vipers were slithering around and searching for their targets. However, it wasn't the end of the story just yet, for the real menaces were those that were up in the air – the Egg Wyverns, which had also been reprogrammed to act on their own accord rather than be manually operated inside their cockpits.

"Well, this is the worst it can get…" muttered Sonic as he and his allies tried their best to dodge the detached body parts of the Vipers and energy bolts they released, which were coming in torrents towards their location.

"I second that thought," replied Amy in a grim voice as she shoved Sonic and Knuckles out the way just in time before the two of them were brutally vaporized by a huge stream of laser raining down from the sky. "That's the worst!"

"Still saying we shouldn't go all-out in this mess?" asked Knuckles, his voice indicating that he was beyond irritated at this point. Having to hold back against enemies like these did not exactly sit well with his fiery temper, and he made sure his comrades knew that.

"And my answer remains unchanged" was the answer he heard, but clearly didn't want to hear. With an audible groan, the echidna followed Sonic and Amy's lead around the mechanical beasts, trying to evade and conserve as much energy as they possibly could. They would only try to retaliate when absolutely necessary or when their lives were being threatened.

Slowly but surely, they managed to avoid most of the ground crawlers and headed closer to the entrance to the fortress, but that didn't mean the Wyverns were giving them an easy time. Streams after streams of destructive energy beams were being constantly fired from above, making it extremely hazardous for the trio to advance.

Despite their most valiant efforts to overcome the obstacles while conserving energy, the heroes soon found themselves surrounded by the Vipers and the Wyverns from all direction.

"Great!" exclaimed Knuckles in an exasperated manner, wildly swinging his hands in the air to express his frustration, "Still unchanged, Ariel?"

"…Fine, but be swift and precise" replied the female Archlord as she took out her scythe and began to cut down all of the approaching spiked discs coming from the mechanical snakes. True to her words, she kept each movement fluid and precise, aiming to destroy the targets without exerting too much effort.

Knuckles, being the more temperamental of the two Archlords, ignored his partner and simply grabbed the discs and returned them to their owners with a force that could easily rival being rammed by a bullet train travelling at top speed.

Needless to say, the area was soon piled up with scrap metals a few minutes later, mostly from the destroyed Vipers. During the duration of the fight, none of them managed to land a hit on a single Wyvern, which was the arguably more dangerous of the two models.

The only thing they could do was dodge the torrents of laser from the sky, while trying to destroy as many snakes as they could.

"Will this ever end?" whined Sonic as he successfully managed to evade an energy ball from a nearby Viper and destroy its head with his trademark attack.

"I'm open to suggestion now," shouted Knuckles as he joined Sonic and Amy in the middle of the area, once again surrounded by the few remaining Vipers and a horde of Wyverns from above.

"How about 'jump out of the way and take cover'?" said a new voice coming from directly underneath the three, shocking them. Nevertheless, they did as told and jumped out of the spot.

A moment later, a tremor occurred, which was subsequently followed by the ground where the three had been cracking open. From the hole, four figures emerged, and Sonic recognized each and every one of them. In fact, it brought a smile on his face to see these familiar faces again.

"Glad to see the revered Chaotix detectives have decided to grace us with their presence," he said with a teasing tone as the five members of the Chaotix appeared before him – Mighty, Vector, Charmy, and Espio.

"Ya think we would miss out on this? Not on yer life, buddy" replied the de-facto leader Vector the crocodile as he instantly blasted a nearby Viper, which was brave enough to initiate an attack on the powerhouse muscle of the team, to high heavens with one single jab. From the looks of the muscles he now possessed, Sonic figured that the crocodile had been working out quite a lot over the years, making him look much sturdier and bulkier than before. Other than that, the pompous croc remained relatively the same as his version back home.

Likewise, time seemed to have done wonders for the remaining members. Espio, while relatively the same in appearance, now sported a light armor that reflected his natural color as well as a giant shuriken strapped around his back. Charmy was much older as well, and over the years, he had admittedly grown into quite a handsome and, like his name suggested, charming bee. His face was still full of vigor and filled with undying childlike optimism much like the one Sonic was used to in his own world, but he also had a calmer, more relaxed and mature look.

Last but not least, there was his lifelong acquaintance, who Sonic had not seen or heard since…forever maybe. Mighty the Armadillo was looking sharp and collected as ever, his face still a picture of calmness and serenity that perfectly described his pacifistic nature and tendencies. As a seasoned adventurer whose skills easily rivaled or even surpassed Knuckles himself, the armadillo did not wear elaborate armor light the other agents that had gathered here - simply a pair of climbing boots, matching gloves and a brown tattered scarf wrapped around his neck.

"Sorry we arrived a bit late," said the polite and gentle armadillo with an apologetic smile on his face, "There is a limit to how fast I can dig."

"Don't worry, Might" replied his fellow adventurer with a light-hearted pat on the shoulder, which would have knocked anyone out if that person didn't possess the strength of Mighty, "You came just in time."

"Yes, we're glad" said Sonic with a happy grin on his face. Oh how he had missed the armadillo! That being said, not seeing him for a long time consequently made the cobalt speedster a little bit awkward.

"Sonic! It is great to see you…so young and…" Mighty began, only to slowly trail off toward the end of his sentence, his voice growing more and more silent until it was reduced to a mere whisper entirely. Knowing what he was implying, the hedgehog in question smiled a sad smile and let out a soft chuckle.

"It's great to see you, too, Mighty. It's been a long time. I'd love to chat and catch up, but…"

"This is neither the time nor place, I know. Get going, you three. Get your friend back. The boys and I will handle these morons" said the armadillo in a commanding voice, much to the surprise of the two Archlords being addressed.

"Ahem, need I remind you that I'm your current boss?" asked Knuckles rhetorically, but the mirth in his voice was not lost on anyone.

"Just get your butts out of this place. Vec, would you mind opening a path for our VIPs?"

"Of course not, I normally charge for this kind of service, but seeing as I'm feeling generous today,…" replied the muscular reptile as he cracked his knuckles in an intimidating fashion.

With a speed much faster than anyone gave him credit for, the green mean muscle grabbed the face of the Viper obstructing the advance of Sonic's team and crushed it with his bare hands like it was an egg.

"Now move, we'll see you and Tails back at base!" said Vector as he grabbed the destroyed snake's spiked discs and threw them toward the other Vipers within range, reducing them to scraps in a blink of an eye.

"Thanks, guys!" exclaimed Amy before she motioned to Sonic and Knuckles, telling them to move on. After another glance at the four Chaotix fighters, the red and blue warriors did as told and headed inside the open fortress, ready to accomplish their target. A moment later, the trio disappeared from sight completely.

With happy smiles plastered on their respective faces, Mighty and Vector turned around to regard their younger members of the team, who were also wearing the same expressions, albeit more subtle in Espio's case.

"Alright gang, here is how we are going to do this" shouted Vector as he promptly stepped forward, "Charmy, Espio, you two take down the flying thingies up there…"

"Wyverns" interrupted Espio with a cough into his fist, an act that made the crocodile frown in annoyance.

"Whatever…just pluck their wings. Charmy, you take Esp up there. Mighty and I will deal with these oversized worms."

"Roger that!" came the simultaneous responses of the other three. A split second later, the agents turned into blurry images as they fanned out and hunted down their own targets.

Charmy, with Espio holding onto his hands, threw the fuchsia chameleon in the air and took out eight stinger-like darts. With surprising accuracy, the bee threw and hit every Wyvern in sight without missing a single one. The darts, upon contact with their targets, immediately paralyzed them in place, turning them into easy targets for Espio, who had already taken out his gigantic shuriken and taken aim.

With one throw, the giant projectile flew in a circular pattern, its razor-sharp blades easily cutting through the joints that connected the mechanical beasts' bodies with their heads and shutting them down immediately. With their efforts, the high flyer and the silent assassin continued their work, steadily and rapidly taking out their targets, no holds barred.

On the ground, Vector and Mighty also made for a great tag team. Despite his pacifistic tendencies, the armadillo was a force to be reckoned with. As his name implied, he easily managed to overpower any Viper that lunged towards him and snapped their heads off with his bare hands. By his side, Vector was also performing admirably, gleefully tearing the robots to shreds with his fists and jaws.

"This won't take long at all" remarked Mighty as he grabbed an incoming spiked disc and returned it to its owner with twice the force, ending the unfortunate Viper instantly, "I just hope they will finish what they set out to do."

"Don't worry, Might," reassured Vector, "Those three will be fine."

"I hope you're right…I just have a feeling that things won't be as easy as they appear…After all, these guys are nothing more than mass-produced pawns fighting mindlessly for their lord…"

Vector grew silent upon hearing that. He didn't want to admit, but Mighty had made a valid point. The robots they were facing were nothing more than sacrificial lambs – completely expendable troops that Zavok could easily get rid of without thinking twice. The real threats were currently inside the fortress, and three of his friends were current running toward it.

"…They will be fine…" repeated the croc once again, only this time, his voice didn't hold the usual confidence or volume it normally possessed, "Right now, we are here to make sure none of these bots get past us, just focus on that."

Mighty stood still, his eyes trained on the sickening piece of architecture before him for a while longer before getting back to his partner to dismantle the remaining Vipers.

'_Please be safe!'_

…


	14. Chapter 14: Showdown

**Yeah, I know I bore people with my notes, so I'm not going to say much this time around. Reviews are, as usual, greatly appreciated and welcome. Please enjoy the chapter! :)**

* * *

Chapter 13:  
Showdown

Inside the safety of his control chamber, the servant of darkness silently studied the happenings both outside and inside the fortress with keen and critical eyes. Outside, the Agents' high-ranking officers continued to destroy and prevent the gathering horde of robots from getting inside the fortress with admirable determination. As a result, none of the mechanical soldiers managed to get past them.

Inside the base, events were taking place as well, which were mostly caused by the combination of a rampaging echidna in red, a scythe-wielding warrior in pink and a supersonic hedgehog in blue. The trio, despite their obvious differences, easily worked with one another as a close-knit unit and overcame every obstacle the fortress had. As expected, the troops charged with the task of stopping them could do little to hinder the progress of the infiltrators.

Despite the obviously worrying happenings that were taking place right in front of his very eyes, Tenebrae appeared completely unconcerned, remaining perfectly calm as if he had anticipated all of these developments to take place eventually from the very beginning. All of the sudden, a tiny red dot from the panels entered his vision, signaling to him that there was an incoming video call from his only superior.

"Yes, my master?" said the armored swordsman as the image of the tyrant appeared on the large screen.

"Status report!" he commanded.

Tenebrae did as ordered and went on to provide his lord with a brief and concise summary of the events both inside and outside the fortress. After listening to what his enforcer had to say, Zavok simply narrowed his eyes in a thoughtful manner and hummed pensively. Like his henchman, he appeared perfectly calm and collected in spite of the destructions of his forces.

"Is that all?" said Zavok evenly, and Tenebrae nodded in confirmation.

"If you desire, I will personally handle every last one of the Agents and Sonic himself. It is but a simple task" said the black-clad fox.

"Hmm…That would be a complete waste of your time - time which you should spend on more productive projects…I have an even better idea…Enter the coordinates of this place into the Eclipse Cannon and have it wipe out every single vermin in this base. It is functional, yes?"

"Yes. However, it will take a long time for the cannon to charge up without the Emeralds."

"Let me worry about that. Just lock on and initiate the countdown."

"Understood, but if that cannon opens fire, this base…"

"…Is of no consequence to me. Besides, if I know my old master as well as I think I do, he didn't send his men after all of my bases in hopes of taking me down in one go. This 'war' is nothing more than an elaborate fluke to get something from me – most probably the Emeralds and my sources power. Oh well, he's done me a great favor in a way. Since all of the most troublesome enemies are gathered here already, why pass up this chance to get rid of all of them in one blast?"

"…Very well, master. It shall be done."

"Good, make sure Sonic hangs around long enough to get a front-row seat to his oblivion. That is all!"

With that, the call ended, leaving Tenebrae alone to get to work. In an instant, the coordinates were entered and sent to the Eclipse Cannon on board the ARK. After all the protocols had been carried out, a countdown sequence appeared on the screen, showing that there was only twenty minutes until the grand battle fortress was reduced to ashes.

With his first task complete, Tenebrae quietly exited the control chamber and headed out to carry out his second order.

…

Meanwhile, inside the fortress…

"Can we now?" asked the ever irritated Archlord in red for the umpteenth time in one day as he and his partners, having successfully infiltrated Zavok's fortress a while ago, were running along the corridors. If it had been just an ordinary run, there would have been no valid reason for the short-fused echidna to continually whine about having to restrain himself from literally bringing the house down. The current predicament which the trio had managed to get themselves in, however, was more than enough reason to get on anyone's nerves, not just Knuckles'.

"For the hundredth time in one day: NO!" replied the female Archlord in a tone that suggested she was beyond annoyed with her teammate at this point in time. Also, the final rise in volume at the end of her sentence really didn't help Sonic concentrate on the task at hand – running for his dear life inside the base of an enemy who wanted his head on a silver platter.

"Would you two stop bickering like that?" yelled the hedgehog with a frown of frustration adorning his features, his eyes narrowed dangerously, "And why can't you just ignore those guys, Knux?"

"Excuse me!" the echidna in question huffed in exasperation as he whipped his head around briefly to look at the machines behind their backs, "In case you haven't noticed, it's kind of hard to ignore a bunch of gigantic mechanical ghosts chasing after you!" he paused shortly to dodge a series of energy spheres and flying objects aimed at him before continuing, "And them throwing random stuff at me seriously doesn't help improve my mood."

He then grabbed an incoming suit of armor and threw it toward the leader of the pursuing Egg Phantoms. Unfortunately – or as expected – the ghost didn't even flinch.

"Quit whining, Knux," said Sonic, "The Egg Phantoms are nothing to be scared of. They're just a bunch of failed Halloween props Eggman made to frighten little kids. Seriously, just ignore them."

"Say that to them! Besides, I don't remember anything about laser eyes or energy balls or telekinesis last time we fought one of these guys."

"Eh…point taken" replied Sonic with a yelp as a random laser bolt managed to graze one of his longer quills, charring it a little. "But still, no need to waste time with them. Just focus solely on getting to you-know-who."

"Argh, fine" Knuckles said as he begrudgingly accepted Sonic's words, choosing to ignore the horde of light blue phantom-like machines right behind them.

"Good," said Amy approvingly with a nod, "Now let's get going!"

With that little dispute settled, the trio sped up again, dodging through the traps and other obstacles littered on the way while simultaneously evading the plethora of objects and energy blasts coming from the ghosts. Although it was tedious, they ultimately managed to get through a reinforced gate and arrive at the next area in one piece shortly afterwards.

"I thought they would never leave us alone" said Sonic after they were safely behind the door, completely out of the reach of the phantoms.

The hedgehog then took a quick look at the new chamber that they were currently in. It was a large room with a huge platform in the middle, which occupied most of the free space. On the other side of the spacious chamber, there was another reinforced door leading further into the fortress. In addition, on that same side, there was a ledge overlooking the entire area from above.

"Okay, we have to move on and search for Tenebrae…" said Amy before she was cut off by another voice coning from the ledge, and this voice almost instantly silenced the three infiltrators.

"I must admit, I am impressed with you and your troops, Agents" said a familiar monotonous voice from the above, prompting everyone to direct their attention toward the source in a blink of an eye. There, they spotted their target for whom they had come - dark enforcer Tenebrae himself.

"Unfortunately, all good times must come to an end…and from the looks of things, your time is up" he added with a wave of his hand.

In an instant, countless robots dropped down from the ceiling and surrounded the three heroes in a matter of seconds. They were all the previously encountered models the trio had faced outside with a few more added to the mix, the most notable ones being the Big Arms and Shadow Androids.

"I would love to stay here and watch a good show of hedgehog-on-robots violence, but unfortunately, time is of the essence. So I'll leave you here to your own device" Tenebrae continued briefly before turning around and disappearing further into the fortress.

"Oh no you don't" growled Knuckles as he tried to head for the ledge, but the newly emerged Big Arms joined hands and formed a barricade in front of him, effectively stopping him in his track.

"Now what do we do?" asked Sonic in a slightly irritated tone as he surveyed the room. They were completely surrounded by the enemies with nowhere to escape except up.

"Curses! There's no choice then…Time to improvise" muttered Amy to herself before turning to her comrades, her voice taking on a commanding tone, "Sonic, you go after Tenebrae and capture him, we'll handle these guys and make sure none of them follow you."

"What? How?" replied the cobalt speedster, shocked by the outrageous suggestion coming from the most rational member of his team. From the way Knuckles turned to look at his colleague, it showed that he, too, was surprised by the prospect.

"Knuckles will throw you up there, and you can go after our target. If he escapes, then all of this will be for naught."

"But I can't just leave you guys here on your own like this…" he began to raise his objections to the seemingly suicidal idea, but a metallic hand grabbed his shoulder and silenced him immediately.

"She's right," said the echidna with a serious expression, "You go after Tails. We'll be fine here."

Looking between his two oldest friends, Sonic felt conflicted and torn between the presented options. He had made it this far with the intention of capturing Tails and bringing him back to his senses, and he was very close to that target at the moment. However, the hedgehog, being a loyal friend he was, couldn't just leave his comrades alone to fight off an army of assorted mechanical beasts, all of whom were deadly, on their own.

"Decide quickly, Sonic" pressed Amy as she activated her scythe, getting ready for a fierce battle with the mechanical puppets, "Every second you spend standing there is another second we get farther away from our objective."

"But…" Sonic began, only to be silenced once again.

"No buts," the Archlord in red nearby shouted as he tore the arm from a Big Arm in front of him and whacked the others with it, "Go save the kid, we'll be fine. Don't tell me you don't trust us to stand our ground against these morons?"

After that, Sonic was forced into another epic internal conflict. After a while, he looked up and directly at his two friends for a moment before he gave them a nod, a gesture which they returned gleefully.

"Thanks, guys!" muttered the hedgehog with a smile on his face.

"No problem" replied Knuckles as he grabbed Sonic's hand and gathered his strength, "Here we GO!"

With a mighty swing of his hand, Sonic's curled form shot across the large chamber and out of the reach of the surrounding robots like a rocket and landed perfectly on the ledge where Tenebrae had been. Once he had made a safe landing on his feet, Sonic turned around briefly to look at his friends before taking off to chase after his brother.

Back at the lower platform, the two Archlords stood back-to-back with their respective weapons ready. Despite the severity of the situation, they each had a confident smile on their faces.

"You know, you should have gone after him if you're so worried about him, Ames" said Knuckles teasingly, and the female Archlord didn't fail to notice the use of her shortened name – an act that the echidna had not done for years. With a nostalgic chuckle, she replied in the same playful manner.

"And leave you alone to deal with this? No way, Knux" she said, earning a playful snort from the echidna.

"Now can we?" asked the Archlord as he raised his lethal plasma claws in the air in an intimidating fashion, earning another bout of hearty chuckles from his partner.

"Yes. No holds barred! Let's show them why we hold the title of Supreme Archlord!" was her answer, and in that instant, the duo became blurs of red and pink as their figures shot across the battlefield, quickly taking out the robots one by one.

No longer having to hold themselves back, the two agents immediately showed the mindless puppets the reason why they were placed among the most powerful fighters in the resistance forces. And they did it with uncontained enthusiasm, especially on the part of Knuckles the echidna.

…

After a quick run along the corridor, Sonic ultimately arrived at the control room to which Tenebrae had retreated, and the first thing he spotted once inside was not the lone swordsman standing expectantly in front of a large computer screen, but what was currently on the screen.

"My my" said Tenebrae as he slowly turned around to welcome his newly arrived guest, "You're here faster than I expected. And here I thought you were stuck down there, so I got myself ready and was about to leave this soon-to-be ruin…"

"What in the name of Chaos?" muttered the hedgehog in disbelief as his widened eyes fell on the brightly colored numbers on the screen, which were gradually counting down from ten. In an instant, realization dawned on him, and it shook him hard.

"Like what you see, Sonic?" asked the enforcer with a playfully dull tone, one that was capable of sending chills up and down anyone's spine upon hearing, "In a few minutes, this place will go up in smoke, and of course, everything here will be wiped out – erased from existence forever."

"You…You're willing to sacrifice your own soldiers? Including your own life? Just to defeat us?"

"I'm simply following my master's orders. Besides," he continued with a dark chuckle, "Don't flatter yourself. If you think I'm going to need nine minutes to defeat you, you're truly delusional."

Ignoring the last comment, Sonic instantly reached for his wristwatch communicator and pressed call, intending on warning his warring comrades of his discovery. Before he could even say anything, however, a metal projectile impaled the device in his hand, detonating it instantly.

"Now, now," Tenebrae said again, his voice still the same even and expressionless tone, "We don't want to spoil the surprise, do we?"

"Tails…" muttered Sonic as he grabbed his hand, which was slightly injured as a result of his device exploding at point-blank range, "You need to stop this. This isn't you."

"…My name is Tenebrae, and I live only to serve my master's wishes and whims," replied the dark warrior before he pulled out his infamous dual sabers, waving and twisting them in the air to warm up, "Now then, shall we?"

With an inaudible growl, Sonic took his stance and got ready for his opponent's attacks. The original plan was to have Amy and Knuckles by his side to stand a better shot against the skilled swordsman, but seeing as that plan had been foiled already, he needed to be extra careful, especially against an opponent who had almost done him in twice in one single day. '_Oh well, third time's a charm'_ he thought wryly, his eyes never leaving the dark figure.

"Come and get me, Tenebrae!"

As soon as the last word was uttered, the swordsman in black instantly lunged toward Sonic without any hesitation. At that moment, the only things that could be seen inside the control chamber were blurs of blue, black and two lines of red that seemed to dance all over the place.

Pushing his survival instincts to overdrive, Sonic tried his very best to evade the consecutive and complex combos that his more experienced opponent was performing. Even with all of his speed and agility, the task itself proved to be extremely difficult, and he almost got hit multiple times.

"What's the matter?" Tenebrae taunted as he continued to keep the pressure on his prey, "Am I moving too fast for the fastest thing alive?" In response, Sonic simply growled in frustration, trying his best not to let the sly manipulator get under his skin and shatter his concentration.

Wordlessly, the blue blur continued to dash around the room and did everything in his power to stay clear of the deadly weapons and stay alive. He was patiently waiting for a chance to strike back and finish his mission, but first, something else required his attention first – warning his friends about the countdown sequence.

'_And since my com is busted, there's only one thing left to do,'_ he thought to himself as he stole a glance at the microphone on the control panels. If there was anything he could do to warn his comrades about the imminent destruction of the base, the microphone was his only hope.

However, getting there was easier said than done when there was a crazed killing machine hot on his tail, one that seemed to grow increasingly relentless as time passed. Despite his legendary speed on which he prided, Sonic couldn't even shake Tenebrae off, and the unfeeling assailant could easily anticipate every strike he was about to make and parried with relative ease.

'_Alright then…Time to take a gamble'_ Sonic thought the moment he was backed to the wall near the entrance. The dark enforcer was right in front of him, swords tightly held in hands and ready for the kill.

"It seems I don't even need to wait for the heavenly light to take you out," said Tenebrae as he cautiously closed in on Sonic, "I'll simply end you right now, and then watch as your friends get vaporized from a safe distance later."

With his peace spoken, he raised his swords up and aimed to finish what he started. What he failed to notice at that moment was the fact that Sonic, suicidal as it might sound, was actually waiting for him to make a move. Moments before the blades came down, Sonic's suit began to glow, and after that, he disappeared completely in a flash of light. As a result, Tenebrae swung and missed, his swords slicing through and melting the metal wall where Sonic had once been.

Before the armored fox could process what had happened, a voice spoke through the speakers inside the fortress, which was then broadcast throughout the base – both inside and outside.

"Everyone!" shouted Sonic at the top of his lungs, "Run! This place will explode in five minutes!"

Immediately after that, a throwing device hit the control panels and destroyed them, but the message had already been sent, much to Sonic's relief.

Thankfully, the hedgehog had seen that coming and had managed to get safely away from the blast radius, thus avoiding getting zapped or burned. Turning around swiftly, he then saw Tenebrae standing still, not showing any sign of movement, but the murderous aura seeping out from his being spoke volumes.

"It seems I underestimated you a little bit" he said in a low tone, but as usual, his voice was completely devoid of all feelings, "To think that your organization still has enough materials to synthesize Chaos Drives…Archlord Eremiel's handiwork no doubt."

"Now that everyone's learnt of your little 'surprise', they won't fall for it anymore. Tough luck!" Sonic taunted triumphantly, but his attempt didn't irate the emotionless fighter in the slightest.

"…In any case," Tenebrae began after a brief pause to look at the sequence on the screen, "It doesn't matter. I'll just have to make sure at least you stick around long enough, and then my job will be done."

"You're planning on killing yourself just to kill me?" asked Sonic with a scowl of disgust on his face – one that was directed at Zavok, not his controlled best friend. Surprisingly, the fox let out another dark and humorless chuckle and shook his head.

"Like I said earlier, don't flatter yourself!" replied Tenebrae as he got into his battle stance again, twin swords shining brightly against the dimly lit room. After a short while, the showdown between brothers continued as the two fighters lunged toward one another again.

On the screen, the clock continued to tick – only four more minutes until the Eclipse Cannon rained bloody death upon the fortress.


	15. Chapter 15: Coincidences

Chapter 14:  
Coincidences

In the midst of a raging battle, both Knuckles and Amy were performing admirably, skillfully dismantling and bisecting everything that came within attack range. Soon, the enemies, though still plentiful and relentless, were reduced to a mere hundred – a substantial decrease.

"We really should have done this much earlier" complained Knuckles yet again, much to his partner's annoyance in one day, as he furiously sunk his claws into the torso of a Shadow Android, frying its internal circuits almost instantly.

"Oh stop your whining, will you?" Amy huffed in exasperation, gracefully dodging the incoming projectiles and destroying the enemies within her reach with ease, "Besides, we need to wrap this up soon and help…" she continued, only to be cut off by a familiar voice coming from the speakers.

"Everyone!" they heard Sonic shout at the top of his lungs, "Run! This place will explode in five minutes!" and then, the broadcast was cut off immediately by an explosion.

"Oh great!" said Knuckles sarcastically, his hand puncturing holes into an unfortunate machine nearby, "Looks like things just got much better for all of us."

Quickly, the echidna took out his communicator and began shouting orders to everyone outside to immediately evacuate.

"We also need to get out of this place now" said Knuckles to Amy when he was done shouting brief and concise orders to his comrades.

"No, you need to get out of this place" replied the scythe-wielding woman as she bridged the distance between herself and her partner and joined his side, "I have to make sure Sonic is okay up there. Can I trust you to handle the remaining enemies on your own?"

"Psst. Who do you take me for?" Knuckles answered with a bit of annoyance lacing his voice, insulted by his partner's apparent lack of faith in his abilities. "Four minutes against these bozos - geez, thanks."

"Alright, I'm counting on you."

With that, she wasted no time at all and jumped on Knuckles' hand. With a mighty throw, the echidna sent her flying across the battle area and onto the ledge on the second floor with no trouble. Landing safely on the ground, the female warrior immediately took off and disappeared further into the fortress, leaving the red-clad fighter alone to deal with the remaining robots.

"Get them out of here!" he muttered to himself as his eyes fixed on her retreating form, burning brightly behind the shade of his glasses. Once Amy was completely out of sight, the echidna turned around and, with a confident smirk plastered on his face, said to his mindless enemies in a rather condescending tone.

"Now then, let's see how many seconds you can actually last."

…

Amy quickly ran along the corridor as fast as her feet could carry her, and soon enough, she arrived at the same control chamber where a fierce battle between brothers was currently taking place behind the automatic door.

The moment she stepped inside the room, the scythe-wielding Archlord instantly located and threw herself at Tenebrae, who had at some point managed to pin Sonic to the ground yet again.

Unaware of the new presence in the room, the armored enforcer, whose attention was solely fixed on the trapped prey under his foot, suddenly received a kick to the side of his head, whose force knocked him off balance and forced him to let go of the blue hedgehog. Taking a leap backward, the fox landed safely on his feet, finally conscious of the newcomer's unannounced entrance.

"Thanks, Ames" Sonic said, coughing a little due to having been strangled not long before, "And I thought third time's a charm."

"No worry, Sonic" the woman in question replied with a smile underneath her helmet. However, that happy reunion came to an abrupt end when her eyes fell on the numbers on the screen, which were counting down at a steady pace, "But we need to wrap this up quickly and get out of here."

"Which is kind of the last part of our original plan" Sonic said in a low tone, his eyes never leaving the lethal warrior in front of him. "He's too difficult to catch, and all I need to do is touch him…"

"Understood, let's ground him, shall we?" Amy said as she stood up and got ready to attack Tenebrae, who was staying deathly still to analyze his current situation.

"You sound like a mom..." Sonic began, and he instantly forced his trouble-making mouth to shut up when a very menacing lady with an equally menacing scythe designed to chop metal to pieces turned around and looked at him. Her face was wholly shrouded by the dark glass of her headwear, but the aura filled with murder intent and infernal fury could easily be felt from miles away.

"What was that, dear Sonic?" she asked slowly and clearly, her voice terrifyingly sweet – definitely honey-coated and toxic-filled.

"Nothing! Nothing at all! Yeah, like you say - let's ground him…" replied the cobalt speedster as his voice suddenly reached a new pitch before turning his gaze back to his target.

With that little yet dreadful dispute settled, the duo immediately sprang into action and began their assault on the lone assassin with a pincer maneuver – with Amy approaching from the left side while Sonic covering the right. At the speed that the two hedgehogs were moving, it was virtually impossible for any average opponent to escape their subsequent attacks. Unfortunately, the one they were currently facing was beyond what one could consider "average".

With a quick leap forward, Tenebrae easily dodged a high slash from the Archlord and a low sweep kick from the speedster, and the instant his feet touched the hard ground again, the fox immediately twisted his body around and launched a series of throwing devices at his enemies, all of which were subsequently dealt with by Amy's scythe without much difficulty.

Tenebrae, after casting one quick look at the alarming timer on the screen, was about to turn around and make a mad dash out of the door situated nearby. Unfortunately for him, a plasma scythe appeared out of nowhere, flying toward said exit and planted itself squarely on the lock that opened the gate, effectively frying the circuits and shutting everyone firmly inside.

Turning back, the fox regarded his opponents and shook his head slightly.

"Surely you realize that is the only escape from this place?" Tenebrae said calmly, his voice as even and monotonous as ever despite the severity of the situation, "That means you must be desperate enough to willingly throw your lives away just to do me in. Is it about revenge? For that bat woman? Or perhaps someone else? I remember helping many people cross the River of Styx safely – rabbits for example. Oh yes, I do remember some of their faces…"

Amy said nothing in response to the fox's provocation, but Sonic could clearly see that her hands had already turned into tight balls, and they were trembling visibly with uncontained anger and hatred. Tenebrae knew he had pushed the right buttons to irate the pink hedgehog, and was expectantly waiting for the Archlord to react according to his plan so that he could use her anger against her.

To his surprise, however, Amy uncurled her fists moments later and let out an audible sigh as if to release the nasty swirls of emotions deep inside of her. When her breathing had returned to normal, she looked him directly in the face and said in a tone that held no trace of anger or desire for retribution.

"No" she replied calmly and surely, "It means that you no longer have any other option but to submit and come with us, Tails. From the looks of things, you have no way out. The controls here – which I suspect used to offer you an escape route - are destroyed, and the door is firmly locked. You are trapped."

"If I am to fall here, so be it. My death will not affect my master's plan in the slightest. On the other hand, I wonder what your organization will do now that two of its heads have been cut off."

Tenebrae, deciding that there was no way he could escape and that the only way left was for him to carry out his orders, held up his swords again and charged. His moves were swift and precise as ever, but luckily for the hedgehog duo, so were they. Every slash was expertly dodged, every thrust skillfully evaded. The three continued to run around in circle inside the locked room as the clock nearby continued to tick. As time passed, the numbers on the screen started to glow dangerously, signaling that they had come down to one last minute before the base was blown to non-existent bits.

…

"Come on, Ames, we need to get him to stay still just long enough for me to touch him – just a graze will do" whispered Sonic as he joined his partner's side, eyes fixed on the lethal fighter with the two energy blades in hands.

"Easier said than done when he's practically all over the place" she replied with a hint of frustration in her voice, feeling a little frustrated and nervous about their situation. The duo continued to dodge the consecutive strikes that Tenebrae made and retaliated by making well-coordinated, yet sadly unsuccessful attempts to hit him.

"Alright then, let's change tactics. Ames, kick me with all you have and give me a boost. Let's see how good he is with his footwork."

Needless to say, the female hedgehog was somewhat perplexed, but before she was able to say anything, Sonic repeated himself with a voice that indicated that she should just comply without question. And she did as told.

The moment Sonic curled into a spinning ball right in front of her, Amy sent all of her strength to her main foot and, with a powerful kick that could easily rival one of Knuckles' rock-shattering jabs, sent Sonic flying toward Tenebrae at a speed so fast that the blue blur was practically invisible.

Despite avoiding being hit directly by the hedgehog, Tenebrae was soon forced back when Sonic's form, having been given a substantial acceleration by his partner, began to bounce off the reinforced walls inside the room, ricocheting repeatedly in complex and virtually unreadable patterns. Due to that, Tenebrae was momentarily stunned and – as the duo had intended – grounded. Capitalizing that moment, Amy closed in on him, being mindful of Sonic's movements, and put the fox into a headlock.

"Now, Sonic!" she shouted, and in an instant, Sonic uncurled himself and leaped straight toward the captive. Before the fox could manage to break free from Amy's death-grip, Sonic immediately put his hand on the fox's head and activated the remaining Chaos Drives in his belt.

"Chaos Control!" he shouted, instantly teleporting everyone out of the fortress just as the countdown on the screen reached zero.

…

The entire fortress was then engulfed in a bright light coming from the heavens beyond, and in a matter of seconds, the magnificent construct, along with everything that was left inside it, was blown into oblivion for good.

A moment later, a flash of light appeared a little distance away from the newly created wreckage, and once it had disappeared, the figures of Sonic, Amy and Tenebrae emerged, all of them scattered in different directions.

"Yeah…" muttered Sonic as he shook his head to chase away the black spots invading his vision, "When you said the Chaos Drives could only allow access to 'limited' Chaos Control, you weren't kidding."

"That's why it requires physical contact to transport people?" the Archlord enquired.

"Yup…in the nick of time, too. But let's talk about that later. Right now, we still have unfinished business to tend to."

With that, the two hedgehogs turned their eyes toward Tenebrae, studying him intently as the fox got up to his feet and regarded them precariously.

"Well, this is an unexpected development" he muttered, "While I appreciate your helping me, it changes nothing – my order remains."

"We know" Amy replied, "Which is why we take you out here. All of your bases in this country are probably busy dealing with our troops right now, and seeing as you have just ordered an execution on all of your robots back at the main base, I'd say you are now officially on your own."

In response to that, Tenebrae remained quiet. Taking his silence as a sign to go on, Amy continued.

"And now that you have nobody to help, our friends can easily take you down…" she then took out her communicator and began to call for back-up, but like what had happened to Sonic's earlier, a dark projectile appeared all of the sudden and destroyed it instantly. Curiously though, Amy appeared unconcerned.

Before any of them could say anything or make any move to subdue him, Tenebrae swiftly turned around and sped off. Even though he was powerful, he knew when he was in over his head. In this situation, considering the fact that Amy was right about virtually everything – that he was alone against the surviving members of the Agents - the fox saw no other choice but to make an escape to one of the secret lairs scattered across the country, which the Agents probably knew nothing about.

"I see your little mind game worked then" commented Sonic as soon as Tenebrae was out of earshot, a smug smile decorating his face.

"Yup, and now it's your turn, Sonic. Make sure he follows the designated trail to our base."

"You can count on me! Nobody outruns the fastest hedgehog alive, not even my own brother!" with that, the cobalt speedster sped up and chased the retreating fox at top speed, leaving behind an echoing sound and a trail of dust in his wake.

Once the two brothers had completely disappeared from sight, Amy turned around to look at the empty spot where Zavok's menacing fortress had once proudly stood, and under her helmet, her emerald eyes narrowed dangerously. After a brief moment of eerie silence, she turned her head around slowly and spoke into the empty vastness in front of her, seemingly addressing no-one in particular.

"How goes your end?" she asked in a sharp and commanding voice.

"Fine. Eremiel and I have already taken care all of the remaining units along the way to make sure that Sonic's little run won't be interrupted."

"I see…What about the others?"

"Kushiel contacted me already, everyone has gotten out of there safe and sound…a few injuries here and there, but what else is new?" replied the voice in the dark.

After that, silence took reign briefly before Amy spoke again.

"I suppose you anticipated for all of this to happen right?" she asked in a low voice, signaling the addressee that she was not in a good mood to cross at the moment. In fact, she was furious.

"Anticipated what, actually?" replied the voice again, this time coming from a nearby boulder and prompting the hedgehog to direct her attention that way. The moment she did, a familiar spherical figure stepped out, his stick consistently making clanging noises against the solid ground.

"Don't play dumb, Zik!" Amy countered.

"To what are you referring, my dear?" said the old Zeti dismissively as fully stepped out of the shadows and came face-to-face with a very angry female Archlord, who seemed to be trying very hard not to strangle her teammate right then and there.

"You know full well what I'm talking about. You were the one who sent the message to rally our troops, and coincidently, Tenebrae chose today of all days to summon all of his elite robots to this specific location. I know for a fact that Eggman has never allowed the enemies to intercept any of our transmissions – including Tenebrae - but today, you were the one who insisted on sending it yourself to 'save Eremiel some trouble'."

"You ordered everyone to raid the bases around the world to divide the enemies' forces apart and to prevent Tenebrae from calling for back-up should everything go well. You seemed to know every move Zavok would eventually make, and possibly, you also knew that by sending our most powerful and valued members here, Zavok would be tempted to get rid of everyone in one strike and at the expense of his fortress and minions."

"And that's not all. It was you who told Sonic to teleport Tenebrae outside the fortress to 'separate him from his occupied allies', and that order once again 'coincidently' saved his and my life from being blown to bits. Too many coincidences, don't you think?"

In response, Master Zik said nothing. He simply stood still and looked at the wasteland created by the Eclipse Cannon, his hand absent-mindedly stroking his beard in a thoughtful manner. Taking the silence as her cue, Amy stepped up to the old master and stared down at him, her eyes burning brightly behind the dark glass.

"I have nothing to back up what I said, for it's merely my intuition speaking. But I'm going to say this once and only once, Zik, so listen well," she began.

"I know our Sonic - Sariel trusted you, I know the alternate Sonic trusts you, and I know most of us now trust you as our strategist and commander, but if you ever let your vendetta against Zavok to blind you to the point of putting the lives of your allies and my friends on the line again…Supreme Archlord or not, I will personally sentence you myself."

Like before, however, the wizened Zeti remained still and quiet , neither admitting or denying anything Amy had just told him. Having calmed down a bit from her outburst, the female Archlord took a step back and let out a sigh to release her pent-up frustration.

"We all want to end this madness, Zik, but we can only end it if we work together. I don't know if you view any if not all of us as acceptable losses in case things go awry, but to me, no life lost can ever be considered acceptable."

Once again, no sound or action came from Master Zik save for a sideway glance at his taller colleague. His eyes held no emotion that she could read, and neither did his face.

With her mind spoken aloud, Amy turned around and began to run after Sonic to offer him assistance should he need it. After all, one could never be too cautious when the enemy was the most dangerous fighter in the enemy's forces. A moment later, she disappeared completely from sight, leaving the lone and silent Zeti alone at the spot to regard the results of his latest strategy.

After a while of being surrounded by the still veil of tranquility, the Zeti took off after his colleague and disappeared in the perpetual darkness of the night. His plan had played out perfectly, but the fruits it had yielded left a bitter taste in his mouth.


	16. Chapter 16: Showdown II

**I'm really sorry for not updating this story for as long as I have. I've been busy searching for a summer job and have just recently found one. Preparing the relevant documents is a hassle indeed. Well, never mind then, I'm just glad I can put this here before I start working.**

**So, enough of my rambling and back to the main focus here. I hope you will enjoy this chapter, and as always, comments and feedback are always appreciated. Here you go, mates. **

* * *

Chapter 15:  
Showdown II

It really did not take the infamous Blue Blur long to catch up with the retreating form of Tenebrae, despite the substantial head start that the latter had made. With a small smirk on his face, Sonic continued to speed up and before long, the hedgehog was running side-by-side with the masked fox, who had now been drawn to the former's presence.

"Going somewhere, Tails?" asked Sonic in a teasing tone the moment he caught up to his best friend. The fox, in reply, said nothing and instead focused his energy on getting away from his relentless tail. Unfortunately, all of his attempts at escape, though admirable, amounted to naught in the end. There was no way to cut Sonic the hedgehog off in a race.

Sonic, on the other hand, continued to chase Tenebrae with unwavering determination, much to the dark enforcer's dismay. The hedgehog would, from time to time, bump into his target in an attempt to knock him off balance, but Tenebrae, being an alert and skilled warrior he was, either dodged or endured the sudden attacks and retaliated by unloading his collection of throwing devices at the alternate version of his former best friend.

"You have to do better than that, Tails!" Sonic exclaimed in a cheerful tone, effortlessly avoiding getting hit by the projectiles by repeatedly side-stepping and spin dashing in quick succession.

"My name is Tenebrae!" the fox, for the first time in a long time, growled in mild annoyance at his chaser's persistence, "And get out of my way!" he added with a noticeable rise in his tone before attempting to slash Sonic with his saber. As to be expected, he missed.

Running up a slope a little distance ahead to gain momentum, Sonic then leaped into the air and, without warning, unleashed a powerful Homing Attack aimed straight at Tenebrae's exposed back. The fox was taken by surprise, but thanks to his incredible reflexes, he was able to avoid getting hit by the full force of that assault, albeit barely. One of Sonic's quills had managed to graze him, forcing the alert warrior to halt briefly before taking a leap backward to survey his surroundings before resuming his run toward a different direction.

Landing skillfully on his feet with a grin plastered on his face, the supersonic hedgehog carefully eyed the running form of his target and let out a soft chuckle.

'_Perfect! All according to plan'_ he thought proudly and happily, '_Tails, please hold on a little longer. I'll definitely get you back.'_

Wasting no time at all, Sonic immediately ran off and continued to give chase. He would stop at nothing until Tails had been returned to his side, safe and sound.

…

"You know, they don't call me the fastest thing alive for nothing" said Sonic rather proudly as he dodged all incoming projectiles and once again closed in on Tenebrae. "Give it up, Tails!" he added when he was running alongside the fox once more, "You may be able to beat me in combat, but when it comes to running, you just can't win. So don't make it harder for yourself and surrender…Let us help you."

"What makes you think I want to be helped?" replied the fox, his tone returning to its original monotonous note, as he took out a few explosive spheres from his belt and carefully concealed them in his palm, "I serve master Zavok and only he. This Tails that you speak of is dead. He is not me."

In one quick motion, he twisted his body around, performed a backward flip before throwing the tiny explosives on the ground near Sonic's feet.

Upon impact, the lethal objects exploded immediately and sent dirt, dust and rocks flying everywhere, clouding the hedgehog's vision. Luckily for him, he had managed to evade the full force of the blasts, and as a result, only sustained minor cuts from the sharp pebbles that had accidently grazed him.

Sonic was about to speed up again, but a foreign yet familiar sound hit his sensitive ears, prompting them to perk up immediately and twitch around to pinpoint the source. He knew that sound – that twirling sound that mimicked the one generated by the rotating blades of a helicopter, and it came from above.

Looking up at the sky in the direction from whence the foreign noise came, Sonic instantly spotted his target. Under the darkness of the perpetual night, Tenebrae would have completely blended in with the night itself if it hadn't been for his two golden tails, which had been wholly tucked inside the long tailcoats decorating his armor. The appendages were spinning together rapidly, mimicking the movement of a helicopter's blades and lifting their owner to the air – a familiar sight for Sonic to behold indeed.

"Try to catch me this time, Sonic!" Tenebrae said evenly before making his escape toward the horizon. For a brief moment, Sonic widened his eyes in nostalgia before returning his expression to neutral.

"…You know, Tails…that trick worked like wonder the first time we met, but now…" he replied quietly, briefly remembering the fateful day of their first meeting before making a beeline toward a large pile of debris belonging to a fallen skyscraper nearby.

Rapidly jumping on top of the chunks of rocks to gain altitude, he swiftly followed the dark fox into the air and before Tenebrae could get out of his reach, he zoomed in and delivered a crushing axe kick on the fox's back, the force of which sent the black-clad creature pummeling down fast.

Tenebrae's falling form collided with the hard surface below moments later, and a loud crashing noise was heard afterward.

"Sorry, buddy. But this is for your own good…" Sonic muttered to himself the moment his feet touched the ground, his eyes fixed at the newly created smoke screen ahead. He knew he had no choice in the matter, but beating up his own best friend – something he had sworn to never commit since their first adventure together – was by far the worst thing he had ever done in his life, and that deed would surely come back to haunt him later, but he tried to suppress the guilt for now. Right now, Sonic needed to stay focused to apprehend his target.

Once the screen of dust was clear, Sonic instantly spotted the dark warrior. At first sight, he appeared completely normal and unhurt, possibly due to the sturdy armor in which he was clad. However, another closer look at Tenebrae made Sonic want to slap himself across the face and do that ten times harder with each subsequent strike. It was only with sheer willpower that he was able to refrain from doing just that.

Behind the armored fox, one unguarded, golden appendage limped along the ground, appearing swollen and oddly bent – definitely broken. And the sight of that single broken tail hit Sonic harder than any of the jabs he had received all day, for he had been the one to cause that. Though it was inevitable, the knowledge still hit him hard.

"You really have a death wish, don't you, Sonic?" Tenebrae growled, actually expressing a fleeting display of emotion, in this case anger, to his opponent for the first time in fifteen years. Despite the searing pain coming from his injured namesake, the fox showed no sign of pain at all.

"Nah, I'm not feeling suicidal today, or ever for your information" Sonic replied calmly and a touch too cheerfully despite his obvious disgust at the thought of having to injure the one he had sworn to shield from all harm. _'Settle down, Sonic'_ a tiny voice inside his head chided him, '_Focus on saving Tails first, then beat yourself up about it later_' the voice went on, which really did little to help alleviate his mood.

It did, however, set him straight once again. With renewed determination, Sonic snapped back to the mission at hand and got himself ready for a possible assault.

"Why don't we end this now, Tails? Surrender yourself before our friends arrive. You are a smart person; surely you know that you alone, no matter how skilled, cannot hope to fight against a group."

"…No…I can't" the fox answered, his voice barely loud enough for the hedgehog to hear, and Sonic could almost see a devious smirk underneath that helmet from that eerie tone alone. And honestly, it unnerved him to a certain extent.

"But I'm sure I can get myself a free pass if I have a certain blue hedgehog…bruised, beaten, broken, barely breathing, and barely conscious as a trade-off…" Tenebrae added before pulling out his swords and charging at Sonic, hell bent on making good of his threat.

In an instant, every survival instinct inside Sonic screamed at his shock-filled brain to resume its functions, and thankfully, it did. He managed rolled back in the nick of time, barely missing the condensed saber by an inch. He had survived the first attack, but the subsequent ones were not more lenient. If anything, they got deadlier and faster as time passed, and it took Sonic everything he had just to stay alive.

After dodging for a while, Sonic, already hating himself for what he was going to do, dodged an incoming thrust and moved close to Tenebrae's form, delivering a low kick to the fox's injured appendage. The moment his foot connected, Tenebrae flinched visibly and hastily jumped back on reflex, creating a distance between them. Even from the distance, Sonic could see that the fox's hands were trembling slightly from the pain, and it made him cringe as well.

"I'm sorry" Sonic said sincerely with a grimace on his face, his eyes shining with sadness and self-directed disgust. He hated this.

Tenebrae, after trying and successfully suppressing the, mind-numbing pain, charged at Sonic once again. The hedgehog instantly moved backward before taking off, leaving the fox behind.

At that moment, Tenebrae considered letting Sonic be and made his escape to one of secret lairs, but out of the corner of his eyes, he suddenly spotted a bulky figure clad in a red armor heading toward him at top speed. The leading individual was followed by many others, all of whom he recognized. Turning around, he spotted another one – a warrior in pink – approaching him from afar, her weapon ready in hand. At that moment, he knew he was trapped.

Seeing no other choice, Tenebrae let out a frustrated growl under his breath and took off after Sonic, finally realizing that the lone hedgehog ahead was his only bargaining chip for freedom.

Once the fox was out of sight, all incoming figures that had been charging at him immediately and simultaneously dissipated into nothingness, returning stillness back to the clearing. In their place now stood a large egg-shaped machine, the man inside holding a strange device in his hands. In the silence of the deserted area, a booming laughter that easily ripped off the tranquil veil could easily be heard.

"Got you now, fox boy!" he said with a gleeful grin plastered on his face before taking off after the retreating enforcer.

…

In the veil of darkness and isolation of the devastated city, Sonic continued to run. He continued to run on and on, speeding up even more as the seconds continued to tick away. Briefly stealing a glance at the fast approaching shadow behind, Sonic couldn't help but grimace the moment his eyes fell on Tenebrae, who was not far behind.

Tenebrae was in fact hot on his tail and he was closing in on him fast, twin swords tightly held in hands and ready for the kill. Despite the obvious pain coming from his broken tail, the armored fox appeared normal. With another grief-filled grimace, Sonic turned around and directed his gaze forward. He continued his journey for a while longer before slowing down a little upon arriving at a relatively vast and deserted space outside the city.

"This should be far enough!" Sonic muttered to himself as he skidded to a complete stop, his shoes screeching against the ground and creating a few sparks. Once his body was still, the hedgehog calmly turned around and waited for Tenebrae to come to him.

"Alright then, you want to play rough, I'll play rough" shouted Sonic to let out his bottled-up anger.

With that, he began to move and rammed straight into the incoming swordsman with his Sonic Boost. The strike was as deadly as it was sudden, yet it was ultimately for naught, for the highly elusive chaser had managed to get out of the way a split second before the impact. The blurry blue comet that Sonic had become then collided with a nearby boulder with a force strong enough to reduce it to tiny pebbles.

"Oh Chaos, I can't believe I'm saying this out loud…but he's crazy fast!" Sonic complained to nobody in particular when he emerged from the resulted dust screen, completely unscathed from the collision. '_I would be so proud of him if I weren't fighting for my life right now.'_

Quickly snapping back to the severity of his current predicament, Sonic instantly became alert, his every sense kicking into high gear when his ears picked up the faint twirling sound of the fox's light sabers nearby.

The echoing noise of the futuristic weapons became louder and louder as time progressed, telling Sonic that Tenebrae was closing in at a steady and fast pace. However, he could also tell that the fox was clearly exercising extreme caution, not taking any unnecessary risk of letting his prey escape his hold.

"Give it up, Sonic. You cannot win" The hedgehog's ears then picked up the same eerie monotonous voice, "Your fate has already been sealed!"

"We'll see about that!" Sonic instantly retorted while darting his eyes around and preparing for the strikes that were sure to come at any moment.

All of the sudden, a blurry silhouette emerged from behind one of surrounding rubbles and lunged straight at Sonic. Tenebrae immediately held out his swords and precisely aimed for the hedgehog's back, intending on stabbing through his beating heart and finishing the battle in one strike.

The ambush was precise and lethal, but it would have been successful if the prey had been anyone other than the legendary Blue Blur.

"Oops!"

The hedgehog quickly side-stepped and safely dodged the tip of the incoming saber. Skillfully maneuvering his body so that he would ultimately end up behind his opponent, Sonic proceeded to grab the fox's left wrist and twist it painfully, effectively forcing him to drop one of his weapons and cringing outwardly when he heard the sound of the fox's bones being bent.

"Gotcha!" Sonic exclaimed in an obviously forced cheerful tone before delivering a follow-up kick to the pursuer's spine – an extremely painful one at that. However, he was careful to avoid the injured tail so as not to cause further harm to his best friend.

The kick landed squarely on Tenebrae's exposed back, and the black-clad assassin wordlessly fell forward, his helmet colliding against the solid ground and shattering from the impact. Not letting this precious opportunity to amount to naught, Sonic instantly picked up the dropped saber on the ground and promptly leaped forward, aiming to disarm and hopefully restrain his brainwashed best friend.

Unfortunately, despite his reputation as the fastest thing alive, he failed to accomplish his goals. In one quick motion - surprisingly quick even for someone of Sonic's caliber to process - Tenebrae got to his knees, turned around from where he was and parried the incoming slash almost effortlessly.

"I repeat, you cannot hope to win against me" said the warrior in the same emotionless tone briefly before pushing himself up from the dirt through the use of his remaining appendages and easily driving Sonic back to a wall behind with sheer brute force alone.

Despite the hedgehog's most valiant efforts, he suddenly found himself in another pickle as he was pinned to the wall in a matter of seconds.

The blades of the two energy weapons clashed with one another, creating a dangerous sizzling noise that was very unpleasant for the ears, and sending sparks out in all directions. At that moment, the darkened area was momentarily lit up as a result of the collision of the two light sabers, allowing Sonic to see into the eyes of the opponent whom he was facing – a sight that he was sure would continue to haunt him in his nightmares until the day he left the realm of the living.

'_Tails_…' he thought bitterly when he looked at the emotionless face of his future version of the fox.

Not to boast, but Sonic was never one to be afraid of anything the world had to throw at him, even in the direst of situations where even the bravest of them all would surely falter. Yet, the very sight of Tenebrae's eyes made him cringe outwardly, as if physically struck by an armored fist to the face. The moment Sonic looked into those dull eyes, he felt like a part of him was lost to the heartless flames, having been reduced to ashes and burned out of existence forever.

The sight of those eyes…those lifeless sapphire eyes, he knew right then and there, would forever haunt him for the rest of his mortal life, and for every waking and sleeping moment. They were so familiar, yet so very, very different. And admittedly, it scared Sonic the hedgehog like never before.

Tails' once sky blue eyes were dull, completely devoid of their normal intelligent sparkles.

"Yield!" the fox spat coldly as he leaned closer to the hero, his emotionless gaze bearing into Sonic's own widened emerald orbs. For the first time in a long time, Sonic felt fear creeping up and down his spine – fear not for himself but for his brother whom he was forced to fight against.

"Sorry. That is something I can't do, buddy" said the hedgehog after he miraculously managed to snap back to reality, "I'll never give in until I bring you back to who you really are and wake you up from this horrible nightmare…Tails".

Yet, the unfeeling, half-machine fox before him continued to stare blankly, never flinching, never showing any kind of emotion, never letting up. Instead, he simply tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and applied more force, hell bent on carrying out his orders to dispose of his former friend and brotherly figure. And all Sonic could do at the moment was try his best to survive, or at least prolong it.

'_Whatever is keeping him, he'd better get it done fast and come here before I'm toasted…no pun intended, but…Argh! Not right now!'_ Sonic thought grimly as he tried his best to resist.

…

"Your resistance is most admirable, Sonic, but unfortunately, your journey ends here" Tenebrae said as he applied more pressure, forcing Sonic to drop to one knee. "Surrender to me now, and I promise I won't hurt you much…maybe two or three broken limbs to keep you from escaping, but you'll at least be alive."

"Yeah, about that, you honestly think our friends will pass up this chance to capture you, now that you are out here alone, injured and without any form of protection?" asked Sonic in a shaky way, trying desperately not to drop his weapon – his life line in this case.

"I don't think so, I know so" replied the callous fox as he leaned in closer, "Every single one of your allies will let me go if – oh no, because they want you returned breathing…"

"Well, I wouldn't say everyone" said a new voice coming from above the feuding duo, surprising the dark swordsman and making him lose his focus for a second. Unfortunately for him, a second was more than enough time for Sonic to capitalize. In an instant, the trapped hedgehog shot up from the ground and delivered a mighty punch to Tenebrae's gut, pushing him back. When the fox was still in a daze, he leaped back and joined the side of his newly arrived comrade.

"You could have arrived sooner, you know Egghead! And what do you mean 'not everyone?' Who wouldn't want me alive?" he complained to the mechanized human next to him, who only shrugged dismissively in response.

"Well, I got held up" he said with an infuriating grin, much to Sonic's annoyance.

"By what?" Sonic raised his voice a little before deciding that an argument was not worth his time at the moment, "On second thought, never mind. Let's just finish things here first."

"Agreed."

With that settled upon, the former nemeses directed their attention back to lone fox in front of them. Cracking a wide grin, the half-machine Archlord addressed his enemy in a smug and condescending tone, much to both Sonic and Tenebrae's annoyance.

"Now then, fox boy. I'm sure you already know that this situation is not turning in your favor, so why don't you do us all a favor and drop that saber and simply surrender? Wouldn't that be much better?"

"Nice rhyme, Eggster!" muttered Sonic sarcastically nearby, but the gloating scientist paid him no mind for the time being.

"For your information, I have already given the coordinates of this location to our allies, and they should be here very soon. Escape is not an option, Tails."

"I'll probably have to clean my mouth with soap tonight for what I'm about to say, but he's right, buddy" said Sonic this time, his voice soft and kind as he tried to reason with his friend, "Please, I don't want to hurt you any more than I already have. Come with us, we can help you go back to the way you were…before you became Tenebrae. Please Tails, let us help you. You can resist Zavok's influence if you try."

In reply to the threats and desperate pleas of his enemies, the fox in question simply remained motionless and considered his options. His eyes darted between Sonic and Eggman in a calculating manner. After a moment of intense silence, Tenebrae tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and entered his battled stance again.

"…Then so be it…" muttered Sonic dejectedly after he had let out a disheartened sigh and shaken his head in a defeated manner. He did not wish for any more harm to befall his best friend, but in this situation, the Blue Blur was left with no choice. "I'm sorry, Tails, but I have to save you – one way or another."

"Well, that makes one of us" muttered Eggman briefly, earning a meaningful glare with an underlying death threat from his current partner.

"Hurt him more than necessary, and I will hurt you back tenfold, Eggman, ally or not" the hedgehog threatened in low tone barely above a whisper for the human to hear. Eggman, however, appeared unaffected by the incredible amount of malice dripping out from the hero's words. Instead, he shrugged and turned his gaze back toward Tenebrae.

With that, the two opposing parties charged at one another, ready to incapacitate the other.

…

Right into the fight, Eggman immediately tried to put the pressure on Tenebrae by unloading his arsenals of assorted firearms on the fox, forcing him to go on the defensive straight off the bat.

Taking advantage of the situation, Sonic tried to approach the fox to restrain him. Unfortunately, the barrage of indiscriminate projectiles coming from the hovering Uovo Angelo made that task rather difficult to accomplish.

"Are you trying to vaporize both of us, Egg-madman?" shouted Sonic exasperatedly as he was forced to pull back and away from his intended target. "We are here to save him, remember?" he added with a shout.

"Eh, I forgot my safety locks back home. My bad!" was the human's reply, which did nothing to alleviate the hedgehog's already rotten mood. Once again, it took him all of his willpower not to approach the human and tore off all of the weapons from his suit.

"…Just…Just cover for me. I have an idea."

"Never a good thing in my book, Sonic" replied Eggman, making the blue speedster frown.

"Just do it!"

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't wear shoes anymore."

"Shut up!" Sonic shouted with a shake of his head in a disproving manner. '_So this is what Knuckles feels all the time – the desire to knock someone senseless…' _

In return, the human doctor grinned and put away all of his weapons. Before Sonic could say anything, he pulled out a mini-gun from his exoskeleton's torso and, without prior warning, started to empty the barrels without break.

"That's enough cover for you, Sonic?" he asked in a gleeful tone, his eyes never leaving the elusive black shadow ahead.

"Why do I even bother with you?" was the reply he received from said hedgehog, "How Amy even let you in is beyond me."

With that, Sonic immediately sprang into action and closed the gap between him and Tenebrae, all the while being careful not to get gunned down by his own ally.

Tenebrae, distracted by Eggman's relentless and careless shooting, was unable to react quickly enough to Sonic's sudden appearance. The moment Sonic got close to his target, he immediately produced a few of tiny balls from his hand and threw all of them at the cornered fox.

Using his sword, Tenebrae easily cut down the incoming spheres, but he was never prepared for what happened afterward. The moment his saber sliced through the metal surface of the tiny balls, they exploded and shot out a sticky gel which instantly got sprayed all over the fox's body and immobilized him on his spot.

"What?" said Tenebrae as his eyes widened in surprise, "This is…"

"Yes, Tails," Sonic cut in, signaling to Eggman to stop shooting and slowly approaching the grounded assailant, "It's the same stuff you used to trap me when we first encountered in this world."

"When did you…" the fox began, but never finished his sentence. His mind began to play back the events that had happened up to this point in time, and realization hit him seconds later – a punch to the gut not long ago. "That punch…You stole my bombs…"

"Yes, I did" replied Sonic with a sad smile as he looked at the kneeling creature in front of him, "My feet aren't the only things that are fast, you know."

"Yeah, your mouth is much quicker when it comes to getting you into trouble" said Eggman as he approached the duo from afar, his eyes fixed on Tails' trapped form on the ground. "I'd say the same thing about that pee brain of yours, but I'll refrain from it this time. Nicely done, Sonic!"

"I can improvise" replied the hedgehog, his eyes glued to the defeated fox. "Just…do your job…" he added quickly before breaking eye contact and turning to Eggman, whose grin had now disappeared completely. With a silent nod, the old doctor got closer to the fallen warrior.

In one quick move, the robot jabbed a syringe containing unknown liquid into Tenebrae's systems, and within seconds, the fox was knocked out.

"This concoction will keep him completely paralyzed for time being" explained the doctor as he carefully removed the unconscious fox from the sticky goo, "We don't want to risk having Zavok control him remotely even when he's unconscious."

"Yeah…" Sonic muttered as he looked at the bundle in Eggman's arms, torn by joy and sadness at the same time.

At that moment, two more figures entered the field, and approached the group.

"How is everything?" asked Amy the moment she arrived. Before anyone could give her an answer, however, her eyes fell on the limp form of an unmasked Tails in Eggman's hands seconds later. In an instant, they became wide and misty. She wanted to say something, but she simply couldn't.

"Tenebrae has been secured so it seems" said Zik ever so calmly, slowly approaching the group. In response, Sonic nodded and turned back to the limp form of his best friend.

"Let's go home" he said, putting one hand on the adult fox's long bangs and ruffling them affectionately. "All of us…"

The gathered Archlords nodded their heads simultaneously before taking off toward the direction of their base. Amy couldn't help but smile a tiny smile as her eyes once again locked on to Tails, sleeping so soundly and blissfully after a long nightmare of his life. After fifteen long years, the Agents had finally fulfilled the last wish of their late leader and saved their last member back from the dark side.

…


	17. Chapter 17: Awakened

Chapter 16:  
Awakened

…Pain…Throbbing pain that seemed to double with every passing second -that was what he felt when feelings and senses began to come back to every part of his numb body. The pain was almost unbearable, especially the splitting headache he was currently experiencing.

With a low, almost inaudible moan, he slowly tried to force his heavy eyelids open, but even a simple action such as that was extremely tedious in his current condition. In fact, he felt like he hadn't had a good rest for...how long now? He couldn't remember anything clearly at all – his memories were a jumbled mess of events at the moment. As time passed, however, some of the clearest amongst the memories came back with perfect clarity.

And a series of images appeared in his mind in quick succession.

A deactivated timed bomb…Three shadows being pushed inside three functional capsules…A group of six…A prevented explosion…A table in the middle of a strange lab…Him strapped down and gagged…A surgery…two silhouettes watching him, one of whom was holding a strange chip…After that, more pain and then nothing – just a feeling of numbness.

The broken and incomplete chain of memories continued to flash rapidly, linking seemingly separate and unrelated events together. He noticed that most of the recollections were gruesome images of mass destruction, countless deaths and disfigurations, the sight reflected in the glass of a black warrior dressed in black commanding a horde of zombie-like soldiers on the battlefield, and fallen nations among many others.

All of those fragmented memories seemed to have a mind of their own, for the subsequent ones were much more gruesome and terrifying than the previous, and he didn't like any of them one bit. The most mortifying one was a particular image of a face belonging to someone he was supposed to know well – no, someone he knew really well looking at him with concerned green eyes.

His vision was hazy at that time, but he could still recognize those eyes looking at him tenderly.

Those emerald orbs were filled with so much happiness and joy, tears of mixed emotions leaking out from them in torrent and seemingly unable to stop. The concerned figure looked directly at him without blinking, a bright smile more radiant than the sun plastered on that person's face. He saw that person's lips move slowly and carefully, trembling with unchecked emotions as he leaned in closer to scoop him up and held him in his strong yet gentle arms.

"T…Ta…Tai…" he could see the other person stutter something like that, but couldn't make out what. He wanted to ask, but his tongue would not move as directed. It was frustrating to be unable to do anything.

"…T…Tails…" he heard it again, this time much more clearly. That was a name being muttered by a shaky and cracking voice, which was filled with sheer affection and joy with every sound that came out.

Tails? Why did that name sound so familiar? Where had he heard that name before? He screwed his eyes shut once again shut in an attempt to remember the foreign yet familiar name. A moment later, it all came back.

He remembered a group of people of varied ages surrounding him and calling him that, their voices filled with malice and contempt. He remembered that name had been an insult to his being, and he had hated that with a passion – but he had chosen to adopt it, for he had hated himself just as much. Suddenly, the sneers and insults disappeared, only to be replaced by a softer, kinder and much gentler voice. Strangely, that voice was calling him by that same name, but unlike before, he felt loved and welcome.

He realized he had come to love that name, Tails; the same insult he had despised so much had become his pride. And before long, he had come to desire to be addressed as such, to be called out by that loving voice. At that point, he remembered everything about himself.

Tails…no wonder why that name sounded oddly familiar, for it was his and only his. Tails the fox as his friends so affectionately referred to him as.

In his darkness, the voice continued to call out to him, pleading him to open his eyes. That voice, now that he thought about it, was also familiar. He knew that voice more than anything…He loved that voice more than anything in the world, and with newfound strength, he opened his heavy eyes again and recognized the face of the other person holding him so tenderly.

"…S…Sonic?" he asked, his voice cracked and shaky. A gasp was heard coming from the addressed, and after that, an awkward smile –one that seemed to be torn by the person's inability to choose whether to laugh or to cry.

"Sonic!" he repeated with another croak.

He once again saw fresh tears leaking out from the addressed hedgehog's eyes, his mouth agape for a while before turning into a bright smile. After that, all he saw was light, bright light coming from the one whom he had come to love as a brother. His memories of the recent events were hazy at best, but at that moment, he didn't care, all he knew was that his brother was holding him in his arms protectively, and that was all he needed.

He tried to throw his arms around Sonic to wrap him into a tight embrace, but suddenly, his mind went blank, and it shut down briefly.

The next moment he opened his eyes, all he saw was red - blood.

The emerald orbs that had been filled with so much happiness and joy a moment ago was now filled with pure agony and despair. He looked down at his hands, and saw they were grabbing a light saber tightly, the tip of which had impaled the abdomen of the hedgehog. He could see blood coming out of Sonic's mouth as he mechanically twisted the weapon before drawing the saber back.

The hedgehog then fell to his knees and grabbed his wound, his body trembling with agony as more blood was coughed up and came out from the open wound. With shaky movements, Sonic forced himself to look up, trying his best to lift his head and look at Tails. At that single moment, all hope was washed away, replaced by utter despair, and Tails, ruthlessly and promptly, raised his sword in the air again, and brought it down onto Sonic's unguarded form.

He was ordered to kill Sonic, and he intended on carrying out his order.

He remembered cutting off something…an outstretched arm belonging to another individual who had just arrived to intercept. Another had arrived in a machine and tried to stop him, but he lost his legs for getting in the way. There was red everywhere, and the scene was utter chaos. Shouts of anguish and orders were heard, muffed by the deafening noise of gunshots.

In the midst of chaos, he ran away, without even looking back at the figure of the blue hedgehog on the ground, surrounded by many others.

His mind suddenly went blank after that, and all of the commotions and noises died down almost instantly. Tails was now trapped inside an abyss, surrounded and entrapped entirely by darkness. At that moment, images of death and destruction flashed through his mind in perfect clarity, forcing him to hold his head and drop to his knees, shouting and shouting in vain to chase away the anguished cries of those he had slain in cold blood.

In the midst of never-ending abyss, Tails was forced to relive every moment of his miserable life, and every last moment of every life he had taken without hesitation. Every face, every name, every expression belonging to those he had killed had been engraved in his mind, and he was forced to witness them all over again.

"I'm sorry…" the despaired fox muttered quietly, guilt and sadness lacing his words, "I'm sorry…I'm sorry...I'm so sorry…" with every subsequent word, his voice rose slightly.

Slamming his head on the ground repeatedly, Tails continued to grab his head, muttering heartfelt and sincere apologies again and again as the images of the people whose lives he had taken continued to haunt his mind.

"…Tails…" whispered a tiny voice in the dark. However, Tails' sensitive ears still picked it up, and he slowly lifted his head up to search for the source of that voice. He darted his eyes around repeatedly, but to his dismay, Tails saw nothing in sight except for the gloomy darkness.

"Tails!" said the voice again, and at this point, a tiny dot of light appeared in front of him.

The dot gradually grew bigger and bigger, until it was big enough to chase away the veil of blackness and engulfing him in brightness and warmth. Blinded by the sudden burst of light, the fox raised both hands up to protect his eyes.

Al of the sudden, he felt a pair of hands wrapping around him, pulling him into a tight and warm embrace. Unconsciously, he leaned into the touch and let himself be washed away by the light.

"Come on, bro, time to wake up" was the last thing he heard before his eyes closed.

…

Moaning pathetically as consciousness began to return to him, Tails began to twitch and turn his head around for a little bit before forcing his eyes open. It was an ordeal for him, but ultimately, Tails succeeded. And the sight that greeted him was a brightly-colored room.

"…Wha…How…" he tried to speak, but all that came out was a croak, and his words muffed and inaudible.

"Tails!" said a voice nearby rather loudly, making him wince as the noise assaulted his sensitive ears and making his headache worse. Once the pain had subsided, the fox slowly turned his head toward the speaker, and he spotted Sonic sitting by his sickbed, his eyes wide with worry. Next to the door behind Sonic, two figures stood silently, their eyes fixed on the fox.

"Tails…can you hear me?" the hedgehog asked gently, trying to keep his voice as low as possible so as not to hurt the fox any further. "Move your index finger if you can."

Tails did as told and twitched said finger, his movement slow and shaky.

"Thank Chaos…You were screaming and thrashing in your sleep, I thought you were having a seizure or something…Eggman did say the surgery, though successful, would have some after effects…" Sonic said again as he leaned back against his chair and let out an audible sigh. A second later, he leaned closer and carefully held Tails' hand in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. Tails, even in his daze could still see the broken expression that the hedgehog was wearing, and it stung him hard.

"…Sonic? Amy? Knuckles?" the fox asked as he tried to sit up, but a jolt of pain from his back and tail forced him to fall flat on his back again. In an instant, Sonic was by his side and helping him get into an upright sitting position. The pain coming from his broken tail stung a bit, so he tried to shift his body a bit so that he wouldn't sit on it. The moment he did, Sonic's face turned into a scowl and looked away briefly in shame.

"Sorry about that tail, buddy…I had no choice but to, sigh…forget it, I'm really sorry for having to hurt you, Tails" he muttered after having gathered enough courage to direct his gaze back at the fox, his being screaming apologies to Tails.

The fox, however, put on a blank face and looked at the ones who had gathered in the room.

"…Why didn't you just kill me? Would have been much easier" asked the fox, after a long pause, in an eerily even tone much like the one he had used as Tenebrae, and that tone alone shocked Sonic and the other two into silence.

"What are you talking about, Tails?" replied Sonic after a while, his words a bit slurry and incoherent, "Why would we do that?"

"I don't see why you would keep a murderer like me alive?" Tails replied, still using that same monotonous tone, "Is it information you want? You could have just locked me up in a cell somewhere and tortured me to get what you want. There's no need to take care of me after what I've done to all of you."

"Tails…" Sonic said, trying to cut his best friend off, but the fox wouldn't have it, and he continued on.

"Don't. I…I remember everything now…Everything I've done as Tenebrae. I may not have been myself, but I still have my memories. I can remember pretty much everything."

Sonic was about to shoot up to stop his best friend from talking, but before he could, Tails whipped his head and looked at him dead in the eye, his own sapphire orbs dead and hardened. To an untrained eye, Tails appeared to be the same as he was when he donned the mantle of Tenebrae, but Sonic could easily see through it. The moment those eyes looked into his, he spotted something behind the hardened surface. The fox maintained eye contact for a while before turning his head away and staring into his lap.

Behind him, Amy and Knuckles simply remained motionless and silent, their eyes never leaving the bedridden fox.

"Tails…" Sonic called out again, his voice as soft and gentle as ever. However, the moment he opened his mouth, Tails let out a dark and humorless chuckle. That chuckle got louder and louder and echoed inside the closed room, making Sonic flinch and retract his outstretched hand a bit.

"…I remember everything…" Tails continued after his laughter had died down, his voice barely above a whisper, "How many people I killed – their faces and names, how many countries I devastated, how many nations I obliterated…I remember how I followed Zavok's orders to the letter…and most clearly…" he turned his head toward Sonic again and shot him an eerie smirk.

"I remember the day I killed you, Sonic" Tails continued, his voice still low and whispery, "How easily and promptly I pressed my saber into your gut and twisted it in my hand, how you fell down to your knees like a timber grabbing the wound in vain to stop the flowing blood, and especially how you looked at me one last time with those eyes filled with utter despair and broken dreams…" he then let out another chuckle as he looked away.

"And you know what the funny thing here is?" Tails asked quietly, not looking at anyone, "I killed many people, including my own family…but I don't feel a single shred of remorse. I don't feel guilty for what I've done…not one bit…" he stopped there, and another chilly chuckle chilled the air.

Next to him, the other three beings in the room sat still and listened to the fox's confession, none of them saying anything. At that moment, the only sound that could be heard inside the room was the sound of the dark chuckle coming from the black-hearted fox.

…

Nobody said anything for a long, long time, and even Tails' eerie chuckle disappeared after a while, returning deathly silence back to the chamber.

Eventually, it was Sonic who shattered that veil with a cough.

"Ames, Knux, would you mind leaving us alone for a while?" he said softly as he turned around to address his two silent friends, who nodded in compliance after a few minutes. Silently, the echidna and the female hedgehog walked out of the door and left the two brothers alone.

For another while, neither Sonic nor Tails said anything. They just sat still in unnerving silence until Sonic decided that it was time to break the ice. For one, he didn't like staying still for long, and secondly, he hated the look on Tails' face – the one that seemed to expect a fist to hit him at any given moment.

With another cough, the hedgehog left his chair and went to sit on the edge of the bed, his eyes fixed on Tails, who seemed to prefer to look anywhere but Sonic at the moment.

"Out with it. What do you want?" Tails asked with a harsh voice, still refusing to look at his best friend.

"Do you remember the days when you first moved in with me?" Sonic asked all of the sudden, his eyes on the door instead of Tails. The sudden question surprised Tails somewhat, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he nodded and said in another whisper.

"Kind of hard to forget" the fox replied, earning a soft chuckle from the hedgehog.

"Yeah, when you live with me, that's kind of a given" Sonic joked in a feeble attempt to lighten up the mood before looking at the fox and resuming his intended speech, "You remember the particular night when I told you to go to sleep because it was late, but you still sneaked whatever you were working on into your room and continued?"

Tails didn't reply, but a tiny twitch at the corner of his lip spoke volumes on its own. Taking the fox's silence as cue, Sonic nodded his head slightly and continued.

"Yeah, you continued to work on whatever that was, despite my specific order to get your little butt to bed. Remember what happened next?"

"…You raided the room…with a water gun in hand…"

"…And you jumped, nah, more like flew five feet in the air and accidently dropped your gizmo. As a result, it shattered into pieces" Sonic continued with a little hearty chuckle, "Your pouting face the next day was hilarious."

"That wasn't fair, you know" Tails replied as he turned away, hiding his face completely from Sonic's view, "I only needed five more minutes…" he stopped himself short when he realized what he was saying.

In response, Sonic simply laughed quietly in amusement, much to his annoyance. Tails didn't want this, not at the moment.

"What exactly are you getting at, Sonic?" the fox asked again, still not turning around the look at the younger version of his friend. In an instant, Sonic stopped laughing and got serious again.

"What I'm trying to say is, Tails, just like that day all those years ago, you still can't hide anything from me, like at all no matter how old you are."

"…I'm not…"

"Don't even try to deny it, bro" Sonic interjected gently as he placed a hand on the fox's shoulder, silently asking him to turn around, "I can see it as clear as day."

"I don't know what you're talking about?" he whispered.

"Tails, why do you even try to act like a villain when you're clearly not? You honestly think by pretending to be a heartless and remorseless murderer, Amy and Knuckles will hate you? That I will feel disgusted at you? Do you really want to punish yourself like this when you are not at fault?"

Tails said nothing in response. With a sigh through his nose, Sonic softened his expression and leaned in closer, touching Tails' chin and forcing him to turn around.

"Tails…" he began, and the fox glanced at him, "Don't do this. You are not heartless. You are not Tenebrae anymore. Don't pretend to be him and try to take the blame for him, for what he's done. Tenebrae is gone now, for good – Eggman made sure of that."

"Please, Tails, don't punish yourself like this. You don't deserve it."

"…I don't deserve it?" Tails muttered before screaming at the top of his lungs, "And why don't I deserve everyone's hatred and disgust, huh?" Tails now looked at Sonic dead in the eye, his sapphire orbs beginning to get misty, "Tenebrae is me, Sonic. I am Tenenbrae no matter how much I want to deny it, I am the same cursed murderer that massacred million of innocent people in cold blood. I had no free will of my own, but that does not justify what I did."

Sonic said nothing, and let Tails speak his peace so that he could release his frustration and self-hatred.

"It's my fault in the first place" Tails shouted again after a while, after that, his voice lowered, "It's my fault for getting captured by the Zeti in the first place…My fault for being weak…"

At this point, Sonic, frowning in deep concern for his friend's mentality, spoke up and cut him off.

"Tails, no! Stop that right now!" he said with a stern yet gentle voice, "It wasn't your fault you got captured that day."

"Then whose fault was it? If I had been stronger, I would have been able to escape the Zeti, but because I was weak, I…I wouldn't have killed anyone..." the fox continued to shout uncontrollably. His backside hurt from jolting around, but he didn't care.

However, whatever he was planning on saying next was silenced instantly when Sonic threw both arms around the distraught fox and pulled him into a tight embrace. Gently stroking the fur on the back of Tails' head, Sonic tightened the hug and whispered softly into his giant ear, voice low and kind.

"No Tails, please stop trying to look for a reason to blame yourself or try to get everyone to hate you. You don't deserve that. You will never deserve that. You weren't weak at all. You were perhaps the strongest person I know."

"H-How? I got myself turned into a m-murderer…" the fox replied, sniffing and trying to keep the tears at bay, but it was an epic battle.

"You saved Knuckles, Eggman and me – I mean your Sonic, Tails. You saved all of them from suffering the same or even worse fates. Tell me, would a weak person sacrifice himself so willingly so that the others could live? Hmm?"

Tails fell silent, and Sonic took that chance to break the hug to look at the fox in the eye again to show how serious he was.

"Let's try another one, shall we? Remember that time on Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park when we faced the Wisp Nega and I pushed you into the elevator?"

"…Yeah…"

"Well, what you did fifteen years ago was the same as what I had done that time – to save those who matter to you the most. Do you think I was weak for letting myself nearly getting killed in space back then?"

Tails only shook his head slightly, and Sonic couldn't help but chuckle affectionately.

"No," the fox replied, "I honestly thought you were stupid, though…" he added quietly, but the hedgehog still heard that, and he frowned in mock anger.

"Okay…that's more info than I need, but ah, duly noted…" he said slowly, making Tails giggle a little.

"Well, little bro, what you did for your friends back there was no different. You saved them all, and thanks to your selflessness, you allowed the world a fighting chance against Zavok. If you hadn't done what you did, Knux, Egghead and future-me would have been captured, and Zavok would have been more powerful than he is now. You saved them, and as a result, you gave the world hope, Tails. And because of your noble action, you are now returned to us. You are not weak at all, you are never weak, so stop blaming yourself for some weakness that doesn't exist."

"…But I…" Tails tried to counter half-heartedly, but Sonic put a finger on his mouth and stopped him from saying anything else.

"I repeat, Tails, you are neither weak nor at fault for everything that has happened. It was all Zavok's doing and his alone. You are another victim of his madness. So please, stop blaming yourself by making other people hate you…You don't deserve it – any of it. And I'll beat the nonsense out of those who say otherwise."

"Then you'll have a lot of enemies then…" said the fox as his eyes began to tear up and his voice cracked. Despite all that, a smile was present on his face – a genuine one.

"Hah, remember what I said the day we took that picture?" Sonic said somewhat smugly and pointed at the only photo standing proudly on the desk a little distance away.

"…Even if everyone in the world denies you…" Tails began to recite the very words that had been engraved into his heart since that day, a small smile tucked at his muzzle as he looked at Sonic.

"…I will never be one of them. I promise. And I mean every word" the hedgehog finished before pulling the fox into another hug, mindful of his injuries. This time, Tails immediately returned the gesture and finally allowed his wall to crumble. His sadness, his frustration, his self-directed hatred and anger…he let the unchecked tears wash them all away, until all that was left was the joy that he had finally been rescued from his worst nightmare.

During that time, Sonic said nothing. He simply pulled the fox closer and held him close, letting his brother dry fifteen years' worth of agony.

His eyes unconsciously drifted to the picture again, this time looking directly at the blue hedgehog inside. The chubby creature seemed to be giving him a thumb-up and flashing him a cocky smile. Silently stroking Tails' trembling head with one hand, Sonic gave the frozen hedgehog of the photo a similar thumb-up post and silently mouthed "You're welcome".

After all, he had fulfilled the last dying wish of his future self, and hoped that his spirit could finally be at ease knowing that his family was now safe and sound.

…

After a long while had passed, Tails had finally managed to calm down from his outburst of emotions and slowly, somewhat reluctantly as well, broken away from the safety of Sonic's arms. He wiped the remaining tears away and looked at the younger version of his best friend and smiled.

"…Thank you, Sonic…You always know how to make someone feel better…"

"No prob, little bro, I'm already a pro at that after being Amy and Knucky's therapist not so long ago. You're welcome by the way."

Another bout of giggle was heard, and Sonic couldn't help but smile again. After a while, Tails' eyes travelled from the young speedster to the photo on the desk, silently admiring the precious moment that had forever been captured and frozen in time. He continued to look at it with a sense of longing filled with sadness, and it wasn't until he spotted a blue spot in his vision did he realize Sonic had left the bedside and moved to retrieve the picture.

"Here you go, buddy" said Sonic as he handed the well-protected frame to the bedridden fox, who immediately held it with two trembling hands. "You can read my mind, I can read yours, simple as that" he added when Tails looked at him with a curious expression.

"…Thanks…"

"You're welcome."

"Sonic…Could you, perhaps…" Tails stuttered as he looked at the hedgehog, who simply nodded and began to walk toward the door.

"Take all the time you need, buddy. You deserve that more than anything now."

With that, the speedster walked out of the door and closed it firmly behind him, trying to resist the urge to storm back inside to comfort the distraught fox when the sound of anguished crying reached his ears through the thick door. With a shake of his head and a defeated sigh, the hedgehog turned to the empty corridor and spoke in mock irritation at nobody in particular.

"You do realize that eavesdropping is considered extremely rude, right?"

"We were just passing by" replied a gruff voice before a red blur and a pink one emerged from their hiding spots, acting really innocent. But really, they knew they were fooling nobody, but Sonic decided not to comment on that for the time being.

Amy approached the younger version of her speedy friend and placed one hand on his shoulder.

"Is Tails…"

"He's going to be fine" Sonic said with absolute confidence, "He's Tails – the kid raised by the Sonic the hedgehog, after all. He's going to be fine. Just give him some time…"

"…Alright then…I trust you."

Knuckles crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at the closed gate. He could hear muffed sobs coming from beyond that object, but he chose to left the lone resident be for the time being.

"Come on, then" he said, attracting Sonic and Amy's attention, "There's another meeting to discuss what we have to do from this point on. The others have already arrived. They're expecting us."

The two hedgehogs nodded silently and the trio began to make their way to the war room. Sonic, however, lingered for a little while longer, his eyes fixed on the door of the late Archlord Sariel's personal room, before he turned around and followed his friends.

'_Tails is going to be just fine.' _


	18. Chapter 18: Agenda

**Hello to everyone who is currently following and favoriting this story of mine. First of all, I do realize that it has been an extremely long time since the last chapter got updated, and I am very sorry for the long interval. However, things over here are very hectic at the moment. I am working two jobs at the same time, so time is something of a luxury to me now. **

**Therefore, the next chapter may take an even longer while to be put up. Worst case scenario, I will not be able to, in which case I will have to abandon this story and settle for Sonic and Tails brotherly oneshots instead. Until I decide I will stop writing this story, it is still considered on-going, so no worry. **

**Well, I'll stop right here and let everyone (or anyone at all) enjoy the latest installment of the adventure. Note that this chapter contains a lot of information found in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, so prior knowledge of the game is advised for better understanding.**

**Enjoy and don't forget to drop a few lines.**

* * *

Chapter 17:  
Agenda

After leaving his newly returned comrade-in-arms and brother alone to collect his thoughts, Sonic , unlike his normally fast-paced self, told Amy and Knuckles to go on ahead while he himself took his time getting back to the war room, where he knew everyone was currently at.

He walked leisurely around the secret lair without paying attention to where he was heading, his eyes downcast as mixed emotions coursed through his being. While it was undeniable that Sonic was happy beyond compare that his best friend was back to his senses once again, the hedgehog could not shake off the nagging feeling that Tails would not be the Tails he knew anymore after all he had been through – at least for a very, very long while.

Though Sonic was quite certain that Tails, with all of his willpower and inner strength that he had always displayed throughout his life, would no doubt be able to pull through, he also knew that the fox's guilty conscience could not be wiped clean by a few words of comfort or happy memories of a long distant past alone.

And he also knew that he could offer nothing more than what he already had.

The blue hero hated that thought, the thought of being helpless to do anything to soothe his hurting partner. How he desperately wished that the situation at hand were like the times when Tails had come into his room, asking for protection during nasty thunderstorms and getting what he had asked for and so richly deserved. However, it wasn't the case. Sonic could not erase his brother's pain so easily, and so he could only wait.

Arriving at the door to his destination even before he realized it himself, Sonic let out an audible sigh to compose himself first. Once he was sure that his expression was more or less his usual cheery face, he opened the door and stepped inside.

* * *

The first thing Sonic noticed upon entering was that inside the war room where everyone had gathered -including those who had taken part in the latest campaign against Zavok's troops - the atmosphere was incredibly tense. Sonic could practically see the tension seeping out from everyone.

"Alright then, since we are all here, let's get this get-together started, shall we?" said the booming voice of Eggman moments after he laid his eyes on the newly arrived Sonic, "I will cut to the chase since we all know we are not here for idle chat. Ahem. We have accomplished the first and major step toward taking down Zavok for good. Without Tenebrae to help control and manage his robotic menaces, Zavok's army has been greatly weakened both in strength and in number. Maybe even crippled."

"Yes, his powers, though admirable and far-reaching among the Zeti, can only stretch so far" added Master Zik, one hand stroking his beard pensively. "Now that Tails has been captured…"

"Saved" Sonic interrupted with an almost feral growl and a hard glare directed at the wizened Zeti, making the latter stop talking almost immediately. All eyes in the room subsequently fell on the blue hedgehog, while Sonic stood silent for a few seconds before continuing, "Tails is not an enemy nor is he a prisoner, so I will not have any of you treat him as such. He's an ally and a friend. OUR friend, whom we have managed to rescue from captivity."

After that statement, silence took reign, and it lasted for a short while before a voice tore through it.

"He's right, Zik" said Amy with an obvious stress at the sound of the Zeti's name. It seemed that the female hedgehog had yet to forgive the old strategist for the reckless, if not suicidal stunt he had pulled a while ago in order to cripple Zavok's army. "I won't allow you to treat your ally and my friend as some sort of spoils of war. If you insist on seeing him in that regard,…"

No more words were said as Amy brandished her deactivated scythe and slammed it hard against the floor, making the sudden noise resounding and echoing throughout the closed chamber.

Knuckles, at that moment, simply remained motionless with his hands crossed in front of his chest, but the old Zeti could feel the intense and penetrating glare directed at him coming from behind the dark shades.

"Ahem, my sincerest apologies, my Lady," Zik said after a cough to help clear his throat, "Now that Tails has been," he turned to look at Sonic dead in the eye before continuing, "saved, I can say with some certainty that Zavok has lost more than half of his army. Without a capable brain to direct them on the battlefield, the robots are nothing more than less than worthless walking pieces of junk waiting to be disposed of."

"Are you trying to antagonize me, Zik?" asked Eggman nearby, severely offended by the fact that his current ally had just insulted his former designs and by extension, his genius. As a scientist and inventor, having insults directed at his works was nothing short of personal.

"Oh no, I am simply stating the facts" the Zeti replied calmly, sparing a sideway glance at the only human in the room before looking back to regard everyone in the chamber.

"Whatever!" said Eggman in a low and dismissive voice as he looked away and pouted in childish tantrum.

"So, we know that the robots won't be much of a threat to us anymore" said Shade, "I'm sure our men can easily take care of what's left of them. But I'm concerned about Zavok. We haven't heard anything from him since the successful invasion."

"Yeah, that kind of worries me a little" said Cream, "Shouldn't Zavok be more, I don't know, adamant about getting Tails back? Not that I want him to come to get Tails back to his side, but…I mean…"

"We get it, thanks Cream," Amy cut her off gently with a small smile, and the rabbit nodded her head in appreciation, taking a few steps back with her head down and cheeks slightly flushed.

"But I must agree that Cream has a point" the armored hedgehog continued, "I don't believe Zavok will just leave his most valued lieutenant here…Unless…"

"Unless what?" asked Sonic impatiently.

"Unless the lieutenant in question is no longer of any value to him" a voice following the sound of the door opening answered before Amy could reply to Sonic's enquiry, effectively drawing everyone's attention toward the newly arrived addition to the group.

Leaning heavily against the wall for support, Tails tried his best to remain standing, but his face showed that the after effect of the battle, the operation and the mental breakdown he had just endured all in one day still lingered.

In an instant too quick for the eye to see, Sonic was by the fox's side to offer him much-needed support.

"You shouldn't be walking yet. Heck, you shouldn't even be up yet, Tails. You just got back after more than a decade, endured a gruesome battle with us, got a brain surgery performed on your head and suffered a breakdown, and…" Sonic began to rant, panicking at the sight of his best friend limping almost entirely against his body, his breathing somewhat heavy.

Despite the obvious worrying signs, the future Tails regarded the younger version of his beloved family with a soft expression and smiled in appreciation.

"Thanks for your concern, Sonic. But right now, my health is at the bottom of your list of problems."

"No way, Tails, you are important to me, and I say you get your butt back to bed this instant."

"…How many hours have passed since you rescued me?" asked Tails all of the sudden, his voice showing he was not willing to waste any time.

"What?"

"Just answer the question, Sonic. The lives of many people depend on it" Tails said with authority in his tone.

"…three or four hours top" Sonic replied after a brief pause, "Eggman said it would take you at least a day to wake up from the surgery, but you did that in record time. Now that's something to be proud of, little bud."

"Yeah, rest and nightmares aren't exactly the best of buddies as you may have noticed. But now, I must admit I'm thankful for that trip down memory lane my mind showed me" Tails said briefly and somewhat bitterly before turning to look at Eggman with an unreadable expression, "Where is Space Colony ARK?"

"Still where it's been since its creation – in orbit, where else?" replied the doctor, slightly confused at the strange and seemingly offhand question coming from the most reliable informant in the room.

To everyone's surprise, Tails let out an audible sigh of relief, his posture deflating visibly as his tense shoulders dropped and his breathing returned to normal. His head tiled forward a bit as he muttered something under his breath.

"Thank goodness" he said, "That means there's still time to fix this mess."

"What do you mean?" asked Sonic in bewilderment.

"It means Zavok's plan hasn't been carried out yet, and we still have a chance at preventing it from happening altogether."

"And what is this plan you speak of?" asked Master Zik as he hummed in curiosity.

"Long story short, Zavok wants to erase the only smear in the record of his galactic domination by using the ARK to gain advantage over his enemies."

"The only smear…" Shade muttered briefly before her eyes shot up and she looked at Tails, allowing realization to set in, "No…That monster can't…"

"Yeah," Tails confirmed with a nod of his head, "To finish what he started years ago and conquer the place where Zazz failed to – the Twilight Cage."

* * *

After that revelation, everyone in the room was shocked to silence, except for two fuming echidnas who looked like they were about to bolt out of the lair and murder anything they could get their hands on. It was only through sheer will that Knuckles and Shade were able to hold themselves back from doing just that, knowing full well how dangerous Zavok was.

After a moment of silence for the information to sink in, Sonic was the first to speak.

"Okay…I know Zavok is an egotistical and conniving monster like the rest of the Zeti, no offense Zik, but this is a bit too much. Why bother going as far as the Twilight Cage just because of one failed conquest?"

"I did say he was blinded by the amount of power he now holds" Master Zik replied, nodding his head, "For a prideful overlord and conqueror, one defeat, especially a humiliating one, is a great dishonor and embarrassment. And as you may have already known, we Zeti are not exactly famous for being forgiving towards wrongs done to us."

"Yeah, I noticed" said Amy dryly as she shot Zik another glare, which the old Zeti easily returned with one of his own.

"Besides," Tails continued, "You do remember that many powerful races dwell inside the Cage, and some of them are antagonistic toward us for obvious reasons."

"If Zavok can gain their support through intimidation and fear, the consequences will be immeasurable. Just think what his Zeti power can do when coupled with powers of beings like the Voxai Overmind, and I'm not talking about Thebes, or the Zoah, the Kron and the N'rrgal. Worst case scenario, he might even be able to force Nestor to spill the secrets of the Precursor Tablets and Argus and…well, I'd say that would be nothing short of apocalyptic."

"Furthermore, if he can gain the Nocturnus' advanced weaponry and technology, he would be unstoppable. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a time machine somewhere or at the very least, they are able to make one to further Zavok's insane ambition to dominate time and space."

"Yeah, I remember some of those Overmind jerks from way back," Sonic muttered as he recalled his encounter with the tyrannical telepathic aliens of the Cage. Almost having his brain washed was a less than pleasant memory to recollect indeed.

"So, Zavok would just bring an entire space colony from Earth's orbit to a different dimension, just like that? I mean, how can he even accomplish that?"

"…That's where I come in…" Tails said softly as he hung his head, his eyes showing nothing but regret and sadness at the deeds he had done against his will under Zavok's influence.

"What do you mean, Tails?" asked Amy carefully as she remembered what the fox had said upon entering the room.

"Ever since that failed invasion of the Cage, I have been forced to work on an inter-dimensional transporter – one that is powerful enough to bring an entire space colony out of its orbit and into a new dimension…That's what he's been planning all this time – to overpower the occupants of that dimension with the Eclipse Cannon and expand his rule across time and space."

"I don't believe this madness" said Shade as she slammed her fist on the table with a bang, surprising almost everyone in the room, "That monster murdered thousands of my people in the last war, now he wants to shed more blood! Unforgivable!" she shouted as she raised her fist again, only to be stopped by Mighty nearby.

"Please tell me you didn't finish this transporter of yours, mister Tails" Cream said in a pleading tone, seemingly dreading the confirmation of its completion. With a tired sigh, Tails shook his head slightly and replied in a neutral voice.

"No, it's not finished yet. It would take another month for the machine to go into the experimental stage, and another two months until its completion" he said, and everyone immediately let out breaths they didn't know they were holding.

"That's good!" said Shade with one hand on her chest, relief written all over her face, "That's really good! At least for the time being…"

"So, it won't be finished because you are here with us, right?" asked Vector hopefully, and every eye in the room darted toward Tails in anticipation and hopefulness, making the fox feel really uncomfortable.

"No, it won't be" was his reply. However, before everyone was able to celebrate, he quickly added a new piece of information that ended their fleeting moment of joy almost instantly. "But it's not like it's of any use to Zavok now."

"What do you mean, Tails?" asked Sonic with a worried frown on his face.

"He has another way to accomplish his goal without my invention…Plan B you may say" the fox answered, his voice getting softer and softer toward the end of his sentence.

"…The Chaos Emeralds" said Master Zik on the other side of the table, and in response, Tails simply nodded, his eyes downcast and his face a grim expression.

"But how?" Knuckles asked indignantly, "How can he move the ARK with them? It's not like he can use Chaos Control or anything, right?"

"No, he definitely can't" said Eggman this time as he remembered something he had been ignoring in favor of other more pressing matters at the time, "But I bet Shadow can."

"Shadow?" shouted everyone in the room, except for Tails and Eggman.

"Oh please, don't tell me you're that dense" Eggman continued when all eyes fell on him, silently demanding answers for his claim, "You honestly think Zavok can create the Shadow Androids, a bunch of genetically cloned soldiers, without the original, do you?"

"But…" Sonic stammered, "I mean, I know Shadow is powerful, but even he can't possibly carry that thing to another dimension like that."

"Yeah, you seem to have forgotten what happened to the Black Comet the last time Shadow went Super" Tails cut in, "He easily teleported a huge living comet to outer space far away from Earth with ease, so what makes you think he can't accomplish this task?"

"So…You mean to say…More of my people's blood will be shed by that monstrosity!" screamed Shade in indignation, slamming her hand against the table and effectively breaking the entire thing in half, much to the shock of the other occupants of the chamber.

"Shade, calm down!" shouted Knuckles as he stepped up to his lieutenant and grabbed her hand, stopping her immediately. "Listen to Tails first."

"Listen to what?" she retorted, "My people are in danger, and you are here, saying that I should calm down?"

"Tails said there was still time to fix this, so that means there is still hope" replied Knuckles as he himself calmed down from his own outburst.

"…Is that true?" the female echidna slowly turned her head to the weakened fox and shot him a hard glare, making Tails flinch slightly.

"Yeah…well, technically…" he replied sheepishly as he unconsciously took a step back as if afraid of getting jumped on by the enraged warrior and former field commander of the Nocturnus.

"Is that a yes or a no?" shouted the indignant female, causing Knuckles to step in and physically restrain her from attacking the stunned fox.

"Tails, take a minute to calm down and tell us," said Sonic gently to soothe his nervous friend as he laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. At the familiar sound of the hedgehog, Tails managed to compose himself.

"Well, you see…For the last fifteen years, I have been tasked with the job of…persuading Shadow to submit to Zavok's command. I admit I've been doing…unspeakable thing to him in order to turn him, but Shadow has always been able to resist every attempt at brain-washing. He's still trying his best to hold on to his free will, but I fear it will not last much longer."

"Then that means…" Amy said, already figuring out what Tails was talking about.

"Yes, Shadow will be converted in a matter of hours from now. Since three hours have passed already, I believe that he has another three to go before the mind-controlling concoction I made finally works its way into his system and turns him."

"Concoction? What concoction?" asked Eggman, somewhat intrigued by the existence of a substance that could control the mind of the Ultimate Lifeform.

"Well, it's made of many different ingredients, but mostly from Black Doom's DNA that Zavok managed to get his hands on ages ago, but that's beside the point right now" Tails replied dismissively, ignoring the intrigued expression decorating the scientist's face at the moment.

"I'm warning you, Egghead…" said Sonic all of the sudden in an uncharacteristically low tone. Immediately, the expression on the doctor's face was replaced by an exaggeratedly innocent look, one that was very hard to believe.

"Well, excuse me, Sonic" he scoffed, "but old habits die hard."

"Yeah…they aren't the only things…" replied the hedgehog, "Like a certain egg I know for instance."

"In any case," Tails impatiently cut off the bickering rivals before another exchange could be made. However, he could not help but allow a tiny smirk to form on his muzzle upon seeing and reliving the familiar scene of Sonic making fun of Eggman in the past – one that he had thought he would never see again, "If we strike now, we may have a shot at stopping Zavok from completing the brain-washing process."

"Then what are we waiting around for? Let's move it!" shouted Shade as she almost bolted out of the room, having lost the last shred of her composure to her increasing worry for her clan.

Before she could, however, a red alert signal blared up inside the chamber, shocking everyone inside. Turning their attention towards the screen, most of the heroes were horrified by what they saw.

"What in the…" exclaimed Knuckles in disbelief as he watched the entire notorious Egg Fleet rained bloody death upon the ground above. Everywhere, there were explosions and destructions as the Fleet flew past.

"So, Zavok's already on to me telling you his plan…" said Tails, "Then this must be…"

"The old 'Divide and Conquer' tactic" finished Zik, "Since Zavok knows that we are about to head out, he has his fleet attack the planet to force some of us to stay behind, thereby cutting our number and strength in half."

"Don't sound so proud of that maniac, Zik" said Sonic with a glare directed at the wizened strategist.

"I am not. Impressed though I may be, but proud…never more!"

At that time, the communicators that each member of the group carried simultaneously went off. Upon answering, they were bombarded by questions and pleas for advice from their subordinates, who were unfortunately stationing on ground level and in the way of the mass destruction.

"It seems that we have to decide this quickly" said Amy as she stepped forward, "Cream, Big, you go back to your sectors and help your army fight back, the same goes to the Chaotix and you as well, Shade."

"But I must help my people…" the female echidna countered, only to get cut off by Knuckles.

"Go, Shade, your people on Earth need you now to guide them, as for your clan in the Cage, I will protect them" he said with sincerity and commitment in his tone, making Shade stop talking and start regarding her superior with scrutinizing eyes.

It was only a few moments later that she softened her expression and nodded, acknowledging Knuckles' order, "Fine, make sure you do what you say, or else…"

"They are my people, too. And I will protect them with everything I have without fail. That I swear upon my Echidna's honor."

"Alright, now everyone, let's move it!" commanded Amy, "The remaining Supreme Archlords will deal with Zavok and the ARK personally."

Without wasting another second, everyone was out of the room, leaving only six occupants behind to get ready for war – Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Zik and Eggman.

"Okay then, we should get ready as well" Sonic said as he regarded the familiar yet different faces of his friends, "Like Tails said, there is not much time."

"Indeed, the only problem now is how to get onboard the ARK. It's not like we stand a very high chance of surviving the Egg Fleet's bombardment if we use a space shuttle" said Knuckles.

"Eggman and I can make a portal to the ARK here" Tails suggested, "With our combined effort, it will only take a few minutes to create a barely functional one, powerful enough to send us there."

"Alright, Tails, you do that" said Amy, "We'll worry about the way back later. You and Eggman say here to work on the portal, we'll get ready and then check in here in exactly fifteen minutes. Is that enough time?"

"Please, fifteen minutes for one 'barely functional' portal," Eggman laughed, his voice echoing throughout the room, "Thanks for the generosity, but we'll manage in ten. Some modifications to my old dimensional transporter in the warehouse, and we're good to go."

"Good! Then we'll leave you to it, doc" Sonic said with his trademark smirk and thumb up, causing the human to scoff and turn away. However, Sonic could have sworn he had seen something akin to a smirk adorning Eggman's face before it was out of view. Unfortunately, he did not have much time to dwell on the subject, and had to leave to get himself ready for the upcoming war.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay, Tails?" the hedgehog stopped to ask the fox again before exiting, concern clearly visible in his emerald eyes. In response, Tails only offered him a small smile and a nod before turning away.

"Save the chit chat for later, Sonic" said Knuckles roughly as he walked out of the room and into his personal chamber to recheck his mechanical limb before the departure.

"He's right, Sonic" Amy added, putting a hand on the younger hedgehog's shoulder, "Tails will be fine. WE will be there to protect him, and this time, we will not let anything happen to him."

"No, we most definitely won't!" Sonic stressed with finality as he disappeared into his future counterpart's personal chamber to get ready.

...


	19. Chapter 19: Departure

**I remember that you have already been warned that the intervals between updates will be somewhat long. **

**Anyhow, I still believe that it is only approproiate as a fanfiction author that I should offer my sincerest apology for the dreadfully long delay I have created. The excuses this time are pretty much same as before with a few more added to the list: school, work, school, exams, group projects, having to do most of the work for being in the same group with lazy idiots on said group projects, research, class representative's duties, work and more work. I'm slightly overwhelmed at the moment, but one way or another, I'll manage. Therefore, the quality of my updates may or may not be the same as before. **

**I suppose that is all for this note, now on with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 18:  
Departure

It was exactly ten minutes later that everyone assembled outside the gate of the currently vacated war room once more, anxiously waiting for the inventor duo to come out with good news.

And they soon found that their expectations were answered when Eggman and Tails told them to enter. The mechanized human seemed to have had a lot of spare time on hand after completing his job, for he was gleefully eating a rather huge helping of sandwich when the others entered, much to Tails' disapproval as evidenced by the frown on his face. However, the fox said nothing and let his former adversary alone, deciding that it was neither the time nor place to start an argument that would end up infuriating him in the end. The last thing he needed at the moment was more stress.

Sonic, on the other hand, could not help but voice his opinion, which was one shared by the silent fox.

"The fates of many lives are on the line, and you are hovering there, eating a Zomom-sized sandwich?" asked Sonic incredulously as he stared at Eggman with a blank expression on his face. In response, the doctor shrugged his shoulders dismissively and shoved the rest of the sandwich into his mouth in one go.

"You cannot work on an empty stomach, now can you? Besides, it's been a long time since I last took the time to enjoy anything delicious, so why not now?" said Eggman with a grin after gulping down the gigantic food, "For your information, I've lost quite a few pounds over the years."

"Really?" Tails chimed in, his voice even and face blank, "I think I've found them," he added after a few seconds of silence as his trained eyes fixed on the human's belly, much to the latter's annoyance.

"Shut up, fox boy!" the doctor huffed and crossed his arms in his typical tantrum-throwing manner, making Sonic grin in amusement at the oddly familiar sight – the former rivals reliving their past rivalry. He could not help but let out a quiet chuckle at that thought, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see an equally subtle smile present on Amy's lips.

It truly was nostalgic for everyone, especially to those who had spent a decade and a half living like there was no tomorrow. The familiar scene seemed so endearing that even the battle hardened echidna had to twitch the corner of his lip in a half smile.

"That's enough now" said Amy, though she could do little to maintain the seriousness in her commanding tone – a fact that was not lost on any of the present warriors, "I think we've wasted enough time here. The denizens of the Twilight Cage require our assistance, and we will make sure they get it."

"Nobody messes with my people and get away with it" Knuckles added with a growl, his smile long discarded at the mention of the Cage and arms crossed in front of his chest in his typical seriousness.

"I have already entered the current coordinates of the ARK" Tails said as he entered a few more commands, "This portal should be able to get us onboard in one piece, and I've already chosen a secluded location to avoid detection, but that is all. We will have to find another way home from there."

"We'll worry about that trivial matter later" said Sonic confidently, "Besides, we have a genius inventor with us, so I'm pretty sure he will be able to figure something out," the smirking hedgehog then placed a hand on the mature fox's shoulder and pulled him into a hug, making him smile a tiny smile in appreciation and out of nostalgia. Oh how Tails had missed the simple yet endearing gesture that he had never once taken for granted in the distant past.

However, his smile disappeared almost immediately, too quickly even for Sonic to spot.

"Ahem!" Eggman coughed not-so-subtly into his fist, "Only one genius?" he asked, raising an eye ridge at the surrogate brothers while pointing a finger at himself.

"Children, children" said Zik exasperatedly as he inserted himself in the middle in an attempt to put a stop to the playful banters between former rivals, "As much as it amuses me to see you all _act your age,_" his tone dripping with sarcasm as he looked at Eggman and the brothers in turn, "I do believe we are running on a tight schedule here. Therefore, I would appreciate it if you could stop fooling around and get ready to leave."

"First thing we've agreed on so far, old man," said Knuckles as he uncrossed his arms. Despite his gruff tone, there was the most subtle of smiles present on his face that did not go unnoticed by any of the assembled fighters in the chamber. However, they decided to allow the echidna his pride – he hated being called a softie despite the fact that it was who he truly was.

"We need to go now, Tails. Is everything ready?" he added.

"Yeah, it's fully powered now, we're good to go."

"And raring to go" Sonic chimed in cheerfully, "Time to kick some villainous butts and save the entire universe – again."

With that, Tails entered the last of the commands to activate the portal. The shabby-looking transporter let out a rather loud and tired noise and shot out a few sparks, but it worked in the end, much to everyone's relief.

"Okay, once we step through, we'll be onboard the ARK. For your information, the interior of the colony has not been altered much, but for good measures, I have already taken the liberty to send you the schematics and layouts via your communicators. You can open the schematics for direction should you need it."

"Thanks, Tails. It's good to have you back with us" Amy said with genuine appreciation.

"…Don't thank me yet…Or rather, don't…at all" the fox muttered quietly to himself as he turned away.

Unbeknownst to him, the blue hedgehog nearby had heard, but he decided not to voice his concern at the moment. Tails was going through some tough time, and Sonic would never put the fox under pressure by forcing him to forgive himself for everything his other persona had committed.

That was something only Tails himself could do, given time, and Sonic was – as always when it concerned his only family – more than willing to give Tails all the breaks he needed to think things through on his own first.

After all, thinking things through was what Tails always did best – his forte so to speak.

"Alright, it's ready" Tails said after a few more seconds of silence. With a final press of a button, the portal was activated, showing the interior of the ARK on the other side.

Without saying anything more, the six creatures silently stepped through the gate one by one. As soon as the last one walked through the transporter, it shut down on its own and broke apart, effectively cutting off the only route to Earth.

…

Moments later, all six members of the team were onboard the ARK.

"Alright, guys" said Tails as he looked around the chamber where they had warped into, "This is probably the only place in the ARK that is not heavily protected. In fact, I don't think Zavok even knows this room exists."

"What is it, then?" asked Sonic as he surveyed the small chamber. It was filled with dusty and broken down pieces of equipment and machinery. At the opposite ends of the dimly-lit room, he could also see that there were two reinforced gates – one behind him and the other right ahead..

"An old abandoned lab where obsolete equipment and out-of-date machines are stored, waiting to be scrapped" Tails replied before pulling up the three-dimensional schematics of the colony.

"Shadow's containment unit is located at the bottommost level of the colony. You can reach that place by going through the door behind us. On the other hand, Zavok's personal chamber is located in the control room of the Eclipse Cannon – which you can reach by going through the door in front of us. He also keeps the Emeralds with him there. As you can see, our targets are very far away from one another, and time is of the essence. If we focus on one thing, we won't be able to do the other."

"So if we all go after Zavok, Shadow will eventually submit to the brainwashing poison, and Zavok will gain a highly dangerous and lethal pawn. On the other hand, if we decide to solely focus our attention on rescuing Shadow, Zavok will surely notice our presence in his lair and he will fire the Eclipse Cannon again before we can arrive to stop him, and this time, I doubt he will be lenient. That monster is practically holding everyone on Earth hostage right now, and he has all the power in his hands to lay waste to literally anything."

"And how do you know he will?" asked Zik thoughfully.

"…Because that is exactly what I would do…you know, as Tenebrae" Tails replied quietly, turning off the schematics and away from the concerned gaze that Sonic was shooting at him.

The blue speedster, after a moment, sighed and looked around the room, seemingly lost in thoughts and most of all, concern for his best friend.

"Okay, but why isn't he shooting right now?" asked Eggman.

"He derives great pleasure in bringing despair and pain to those who defy him…Trust me, he will not open fire until everyone on Earth has had their fighting spirits crushed. That is unless he figures out we are here."

Nobody said anything else for a brief moment and simply looked around the dusty room. After a while, it was Sonic who finally shattered the reign of dreadful silence.

"Alright, no more going off-track," said the hedgehog, "Since there are two things we need to take care of here, we have no choice but to split up into two teams of three" he started, only to be cut off the Zeti of the group.

"Are you out of your mind, boy?" Zik snarled, jabbing the tip of his staff at the hedgehog's chest, "If we want to stand a chance against Zavok, we need all the manpower we can get. Splitting us at this point is nothing short of stupid and suicidal."

"Think of it like this, old man" countered Sonic, "If all of us go after Zavok at the same time, who will save Shadow from being brainwashed?"

"The dark hedgehog is of no consequence at the moment."

"What did you say?" Amy said quietly, but the indignation in her tone was clearly conveyed. "He is our ally and friend."

"Who, at the moment, is not nearly as important as Zavok. If we stop him, we can undo the process later."

"Now listen here, you vindictive, ungrateful old fart" said Knuckles furiously as he closed the gap between himself and the old tactician, "If all of us fight against Zavok, there is still no guarantee that we will be able to defeat him in time to help Shadow. And if Shadow is not rescued soon enough, he will, without a doubt, become our enemy. Do you honestly want to face a super-powered Zavok with a mindless Super Shadow by his side? May I remind you that Shadow is an even match for Sonic, and if he goes Super…Let's just say that is not going to be a pretty picture."

At that, Zik grew silent and retracted his staff, looking solemnly into the distance in an absent-minded manner.

"Look, Zik" Amy said after a few seconds, shattering the Zeti's self-induced trance and dragging him back to reality, "I know you want nothing more than to face Zavok and tear him a new one, but you have to understand that we can't take any chances. Knuckles is right…"

"Yeah, that's a first" said Eggman quietly, but a glare shot his way by said echidna effectively shut him up almost immediately.

"We have to go about this rationally" Amy continued, paying no heed to Eggman, "We have two objectives to accomplish here, like Sonic said, and we have little time left. Therefore, the only logical course of action here is to split up. Admittedly, I don't like it any more than you do, but what option do we have."

"Like I said, it is suicidal" Zik countered, "You honestly believe you can defeat Zavok with only three people?"

"I never said we would defeat Zavok, old man" Sonic said seriously, looking directly at the Zeti dead in the eye as he spoke, "At the very least, we can stall him until Shadow is rescued."

"And what then?"

"Hopefully, Shadow is in a good enough shape to lend a hand…" Sonic replied weakly.

"Hopefully? Hopefully!" shouted the old alien, "You are betting everything – the success of this mission, the lives of thousands and the fates of the people inside the Twilight Cage - on hope?"

"In this world filled with madness, maybe hope is the only thing left to keep us from backing down and being consumed by darkness" said Tails all of the sudden, drawing everyone's attention to him. However, the fox took no notice of the eyes that were set on him. Rather, he looked at his gloved hands, remembering the atrocities he had committed against his will for so many years.

"Tails…" Sonic started, but didn't get to finish.

"Don't worry, Sonic. I'm fine. Now is not the time for this" the fox replied quietly before giving the Zeti his full attention.

"Look, Zik. I understand how you feel – believe me; I understand how much you want to exact vengeance on that monster right now, but like everyone said, you can't let that anger cloud your judgment. Calm down and think for a second, and you will see there is truth in what Sonic said. We can't afford to gain another enemy we can't defeat, especially not now."

Zik then fell into silence yet again, considering the fox's words. After a brief moment of silence, the old master looked up and sighed audibly.

"Fine…Have it your way. But if you die, don't say I didn't want you."

"Don't worry, old man, we won't" was the reply he got from everyone save Eggman.

"Okay, now that is settled, we should decide on the teams now" Amy said, looking at Sonic to see if he had anything to offer. And she wasn't disappointed.

"We will split into two teams. Amy, Eggman and Tails will go and rescue Shadow, because you are going to need Tails' knowledge and Eggman's assistance to undo the process. Knuckles, Zik and I will stall Zavok until you arrive."

"A question - Why me?" asked Amy.

"You're possibly the only one on Earth right now who can actually knock some sense into Faker's mind - literally. Besides, I think she would appreciate this, Ames."

With a silent nod, Amy put on her helmet and activated her weapon, ready to accomplish her mission. Behind her, Tails and Eggman looked raring to depart as well.

"Zik, I want you to keep your cool when we face Zavok. Don't lose it" Sonic ordered the old warrior, who begrudgingly nodded, still not fully acknowledging the hedgehog's plan.

"Alright, gang, let's move out!"

With that, everyone headed toward different directions. Before Amy could disappear out of sight, Sonic grabbed her shoulder and softly whispered to her.

"Be safe, and make sure to keep them safe, okay."

"You have my word, commander" answered the female hedgehog before she stealthily disappeared into the darkness of the corridor ahead.


End file.
